Against Fate
by Cammie-Strone
Summary: Dark tries to find a way to become human, but there seems to be no way. Going to Satoshi didn't help. What will he do for this mysterious girl he loves so much? AU
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: **Although I do own this one-shot, I do not, under any circumstances, own DNAngel. Because if I did, I would have Dark all to myself and make Satoshi and Risa get together already.**

This is my first one-shot posted up, so be gentle with me right now! (=^.^=)

**Against Fate**

His fate made no sense...

His fate restricted him...

His fate was unfair.

He was going to change his fate...

* * *

"Becoming.. human...?"

Satoshi Hiwatari stared at the Niwa thief in shock, his arms lowering and the sword in his grasp slipping to the floor. The weapon clattered loudly, filling in the silent air as the winged man nodded solemnly.

"You got it..." Dark confirmed quietly, stepping closer to the remaining Hikari. "I want to be a human. Screw this Phantom Thief charade. There's more to life than stealing and I want to experience it."

Satoshi finally blinked, his normally cool demeaner now replaced with shock and awed confusion. Then, as fast as it had come, it fell through and the icy look returned as he picked up the sword and turned his back to the thief.

"What makes you think I'd know? I'm not your and Krad's creator. There could be no chance of you gaining humanity whatsoever." He said roughly, putting the sword back up in it's brace on the wall. He glanced at Dark behind his shoulder.

"Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for that... Dark?"

Dark's eyes narrowed and his fists tightened. "You have the background, the knowledge, the experience. If I didn't think you couldn't do it, I would've asked Emiko."

Satoshi glared down at the floor, his mind screeching wildly at the idea, but shook his head angrily. What could he possibly get from helping his family's age-long enemy and giving him true life? And why did he want true life, anyway? It was pointless, painful and troublesome. Just what advantages were there?

"Will you help or not, Hiwatari?" Dark demanded, stopping the commander's thoughts short. Satoshi looked up again, meeting Dark's deep, determined eyes, and frowned in irritation. He turned his head again, closing his eyes angrily, and growled softly under his breath. He clenched his fists and strained to speak against his raging thoughts.

"No."

Dark scowled, grunting in ager as he stared at the ground. Then he quickly spun on his heel and stalked out of the fifteen-year old genius's home, his wings pounding hard against the cold winter wind. Kilometres away from reaching his Tamer's home, Dark glanced down and saw a girl with long black hair laughing with Saehara, both sitting almost intimately together. The Thief frowned at the sight, his heart throbbing just as he transformed back to Daisuke and the image remained in the redhead as he tumbled into his room.

* * *

"What do you mean, it's impossible?! You can't say that!" Daisuke pleaded, following his mother around the kitchen the next morning. The sandy-haired woman turned to him, smiling, and giggled.

"But I did!" she said cheerfully. "Dark may have the _appearance_ of a human, but all he is, is an art piece come to life through the Niwa males and _their_ bodies. It's impossible for him to become human."

Daisuke moaned, rubbing his hair in frustration. "Aw, Mom! There just _has_ to be a way! Anything at all! Dark _has_ to get his own body!"

Emiko looked at the boy in confusion and curiosity. "But why? Don't you like sharing a body with Dark? He's really not as bad as you think, Dai."

The redhead shook his head quickly, giving his mother a determined stare, his fists up to his chest adamantly.

"That's not it at all!" he protested loudly. "Dark wants to be human and have his own body because he's in love with a girl!"

The sudden burst of words stopped Emiko and her father, and they slowly turned to stare at him with wide eyes.

"Eh? Dark in _love_, you say?" Daiki asked, standing up from his seat on the couch to look at his grandson. Daisuke looked back and nodded firmly.

"That's right! Dark wants to be with the girl but as a human! That's why I'm saying there has to be a way!" He turned bac to his mother again. "That's why it can't be impossible! He really loves her, Mom!" Tears filled his ruby eyes as he realled the sad pain Dark left behind last night.

"The last woman I remember that Dark loved was a Rika Harada." Daiki piped up, stroking his beard in thought. Emiko blinked at him, nodding slowly.

"So does this mean that Dark's over Rika? Or the mystery girl made Dark want to move on?" she wondered aloud. Daisuke watched the two think on happenings that occurred before him, a dribble of hope spreading through him. Emiko suddenly looked at him, firm want in her eyes.

"What do you know of Dark's crush? Is she pretty? What does she look like?" she pounded out, stepping closer to her son with each question. Daisuke backed away nervously, holding his hands up to make an invisible shield against his mother's verbal attack.

"I-I don't know..." he admitted, "I get glimpses of what she looks like once in a while... I think she's maybe seventeen or e-eighteen..." He started to say more, but Emiko's high squeal cut him off as he giggled happily.

"She's an older girl! How cute!" she exclaimed, "And Dark has the looks of an eighteen year old, so they must be a match made in heaven!"

"Yes, Dark has grown up more than the last time. This is a proud moment for us all." Daiki added, the corners of his closed eyes filled with happy tears. Daisuke looked between the love-crazed adults and let out a quiet sigh as he pulled out his sketch pad and a pencil. He closed his eyes and concentrated on all the images she still had from Dark's mind of the girl, copying her onto the pad steadily.

Emiko tilted her head when she realized what Daisuke was doing and watched the nameless girl come to life from his pencil. Gradually, her face lit up in admiration and glee as long black hair emerged and bright amber eyes perked on a small face.

"Oh! She's really so cute!" she cooed, clasping her hands together. "Dark has such a taste in girls!" Then she gasped sharply and looked at Daiki, realization dawning on her. "Dad, do you remember that book Keisuke bought when Dai was born? The one on the soul displacement?"

Daiki quickly looked back, their eyes ferocious as they clicked something together in their minds. Immediately, they rushed toward the cellar door, babbling excitedly about things Daisuke had no idea of. He sighed deeply and put his art supplies away, then climbed the stairs to his room.

* * *

Satoshi's chair scraped back loudly, and he gasped in shock at the old book he'd managed to find in a pile of forgotten texts from his father's research. He shook his head slowly and quickly picked the book up, hoping deeply that he'd read wrong.

"No... It can't be right..." he muttered under his breath, glancing at the illustrations provided in the text. Slamming the book closed and dropping it back to the table, the ice-haired boy grabbed his coat, dashing out of his house and toward the Niwa's.

* * *

"Is everything ready? Dad, everything's in place over here."

"Mm-hmm. It's all ready over here as well."

Daisuke watched half nervously as his mother and grandfather finished the last-minute details of the ritual, his cloak hanging off his shoulders like always. For the tenth time that night, he sighed deeply.

"Daisuke, it's time. Please come forward." Emiko suddenly said, her voice dramatic and low. He looked up, saying nothing, and did as his mother instructed until finally, he was situated standing on the edge of a painted-in drawing. Intricate swirls, stars and cresant moons circled around his feet and even when the chant wasn't being spoken, he could feel the slight buzz and occasional surge of power and energy coursing through him, tingling his insides and prickling his skin.

'_It's coming..'_ Dark said ominously, almost to himself. Daisuke heard a hint of a small smirk in the Thief's voice and blinked.

'_What's _coming, Dark?' he asked the other male that occupied his body and mind. But no answer did the tamer receive. He sighed to himself and simply waited for his next instructions. He could feel the energy getting stronger and he glanced over to Emiko and Daiki, thinking they'd begun without telling him. But they were pouring over the book that they had dug up from Keisuke's belongings in the cellar.

That's when it all happened.

A sudden burst of huge energy pounded through Daisuke's whole body, warming his insides and sparking his blood. He cried out in pain when his head began to feel like it was about to explode, and sheer pain started to travel from his head all the way to the tips of his toes, spreading to every inch of his body.

Beyond the sound of the whooshing of his blood and the crackling of the electricity, Daisuke also heard a familiar voice calling to him. Male... low and rough...

"Hi-Hiwatari?"

"Don't say or do anything, Mr. and Mrs. Niwa!" the genius was shouting, sounding closer than just a second ago. "Something went wrong with what you were trying to do, but if it's done quickly, Niwa _can _be saved!"

After that, Daisuke heard nothing and he struggled to keep his eyes open so he could watch Satoshi urgently, and mutely, explain what had happened and see their identical look of shocked horror slap his mother and grandfather's faces.

Then, as the pain was beginning to become unbearable, he fell to his knees, wrapping his arms around himself as if to hold himself together. His heart lurched hard in his chest, his lungs burned like he was drowning and he felt as if he would die any second.

But then... everything just calmed down. The pain in his head lessened; the pulsing rush of blood in his ears became the normal soft beats; even his legs stopped convulsing so he could stand.

"N-Niwa... ar-are you alright?!" the ground out, rough words asked loudly over the buzzing of the energy that still rooted within the circle. Daisuke looked up quickly and saw Satoshi in front of him, his clothes and hair fluttering madly in the energy-created wind. Satoshi looked both determined and beaten, holding himself just like Daisuke had not even moments ago. Satoshi continued looking at Daisuke, waiting for an answer.

"O-oh! Y-yes, I'm alright!" he blurted, "But you're in pain, aren't you Hiwatari? We have to get out of here!"

Daisuke stepped forward and took Satoshi's arm and began to walk to the edge of the circle, but the pale-haired boy tugged him back to the center. Daisuke yelped and fell backward, then half glared at Satoshi.

"What was _that_ for?!"

"We _h_ave to stay in here until everything stops! If we don't, then the circle will be broken and the city will be destroyed!" Satoshi explained, groaning and pitching to his knees. Daisuke gasped and immediately went to his side. The instant his hands touch Satoshi's shirt, a huge electrical surge zapped the redhead but he could not pull away.

They both screamed out loud, their bodies wrenching internally from side to side, inside out and in every direction possible until the feeling of great weights had been lifted from them both. The wind slowly began to fade; the energy dying down to absolute nothing.

"H-Hiwa...tari... A-are you okay...?" Daisuke panted, finally able to let go of Satoshi, and fell onto his back. Satoshi wordlessly nodded and tipped to his side, both unconsciously twitching the last of the electricity out of their systems.

"Hey, you look pretty bad. You should go home and rest." another familiar voice commented lightly, whistling under his breath in surprise. Daisuke moaned and weakly waved a hand to him.

"Go away, Dark..." he groaned, letting his arm fall back down. A second or so passed before he flew to a sitting position, shock over-powering his pain as he stared wide-eyed up at Dark. "D-Dark?! What are you doing here when _I'm_ here?!"

"He's become a human now..." Satoshi groaned out as he slowly sat up as well, staring at the amethyst-haired man. Dark gave Satoshi a half-friendly smirk and turned his attention back to Daisuke.

"B-but _how_?!" Daisuke stammered, "Mom said it wasn't possible! So how could it-"

"Because getting a soul was nearly impossible..." Satoshi explained, grunting with effort to stand. "But I read that it wasn't if there was another with the same origin... So if Dark, a thief and one half of the Black Wings, needed another half of the Black Wings for his soul..."

"Then you used Krad! He's the other half of the Black Wings!" Daisuke finished in a gasp. Dark nodded and chuckled, starting to walk away. "W-wait, _Dark_! Where are you going?!"

Dark paused and looked at the younger boy from behind his left shoulder, smirking confidently.

"I'm going to tell a certain special lady just what I feel... That was the whole point of my becoming a human, after all."

With a casual flick of the hand, Dark walked again.

"See ya. Good luck with the Harada twins. Don't worry, I'll visit often."

And with that, Dark was gone...


	2. Chapter 1

**So, people were asking me to continue the one shot as a full story, so I decided to do so. Hopefully, it'll be just as good and you guys who wanted it continued will be patient with me seeing as how it'll be a while between chapters. So.. read and review! ^.^ This is for all the ones who wanted more of Dark and Sayo! Thanks, guys! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from D.N. Angel. The only ones I _do_ own are Sayo, her friends and her cat. xD**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

He could hear the school bell chiming, letting the students know it was time to go home, and he waited patiently at the entrance of Clow Academy, his amethyst pupils scanning the crowd of high schoolers for that one familiar face. He knew the girls passing him were looking at him; he felt their curious eyes looking up at him and his muscular and tall frame. He closed his eyes for a brief second, smirking slightly at the revelation that, once again, he had done the job of striking the hearts of young ladies all around him. Then he opened them and watched the crowd once more. But at the moment, there was only one young lady he wanted to strike the heart of.

True, he didn't know much about this Sayo Aisaka, but that didn't matter to Dark. To him, she was incredibly beautiful and possibly the greatest person in the world. Sure, he'd seen her and that student photographer two weeks ago acting all cutesy, but he had a hunch that the crush was one-sided. Sayo was almost fours years older than that boy and Dark's ex-Tamer, after all.

"Excuse me!" a girl's voice interuppted Dark's thoughts. He glanced down and saw a cute girl with chin-length, midnight-blue hair and wide green eyes looking up at him with an awed smile. He gave her his signature smirk, putting his attention to her for the moment. "Are you.. You're Phantom Dark, right?"

Unsure of how else to answer, Dark shut his eyes and turned to her, chuckling lightly. He reopened them and looked at the girl fully. "I _was_. I'm just like any other teen now." he told her smoothly. She turned pink and giggled happily to herself as she clasped her hands together and stepped closer to him.

"I've admired you for so long now!" she exclaimed, and Dark could see where she was going with this. "Please, Dark! Please, will you go out with me?"

Dark closed his eyes, sighing silently to himself as he thought of how to let the girl down gently. It was true that he had girls fawning over him all the time and he flirted a bit with them, but he never really had any real intention of dating them. Aside from Sayo, the only girls he had been interested in were Rika and Risa. And now that he found Sayo... Well, he wasn't interested in any other girls in a dating sort of way.

When he opened his eyes again to reject the girl, he shook his head a bit. "Sorry, but I'm interested in someone else." he told her, watching her cute little face fall and her eyes get a disappointed gaze to them. He glanced around, seeing many boys that looked like they would be Dark's physical age, and he smiled down at the girl, who was also looking down sadly. "I'm sure there are some guys here in this school who would be interested in you, though." he added quietly. He lifted a hand to her and tilted her chin up so he could look into her eyes. She stared back, almost in a trance.

"By the way... you wouldn't happen to know Sayo Aisaka? I'm looking for her and I'm sure she goes to school here." he asked the girl in a seductive purr, hoping she would know Sayo. She nodded a bit and turned her head to look out in the scattering students. Finally, she pointed to a group over by a tree, three girls and two boys laughing over a magazine.

"O-over there. The one with her hair tied up..." the girl told Dark, and he looked over, seeing the girl with her hair tied up. With a small, amazed smile, he turned back to the dazed girl and chuckled.

"Thank you... You've been very helpful... Miss Miyako." he said to her, saying her name that he heard earlier before she appeared to him in his attractive murmur. He saw her cheeks redden and her eyes widen in surprise. Then Dark walked over to Sayo and the group she was in before Miyako could say any more and allow Sayo to get away from him.

"...she's supposed to have been caught on camera with some other guy, too!" one of the boys were saying with a loud laugh. The girls giggled and looked at the page of the magazine they were all hovering over, pointing at various spots on the page. Dark stayed silent, coming closer to them until he could see Sayo's hair sheen beautifully in the breaking sun through the tree she stood underneath.

"Celebrities nowadays are really weird..." Sayo commented with a sigh, looking up from the magazine to sweep some of her free hair behind an ear. Dark watched her, his heart pounding at the sight. She was _so_ beautiful... "Why can't they just stay with one person? And if they can't, then they really should stop getting caught. It makes them look so bad, y'know?"

Dark couldn't last any longer, and he finally took the last remained steps toward them all, catching the eye of one of the boys. He gasped loudly and stumbled back in shock, crashing into the tree. Dark winced slightly, smiling a bit in apology to the boy. The rest of the group looked up and their eyes went wide like frisbees. He stopped behind Sayo, who was oblivious to her friends' shock, and smirked near her ear.

"Sayo Aisaka... I hear today is your eighteenth birthday..." he murmured quietly, then pulled back to avoid the whip of a ponytail she had as she spun around, gasping sharply in fright. He looked down, and their eyes met. He knew that they were amber, but never did he expect such a shock to see a blast from the past. They were darker than he thought they were, almost a dark carmelized amber, just like Rika's. But when Sayo spoke, he snapped out of his memories.

"Who are you? How do you know me?"

Her _voice_! It was like an angel to his ears! It was light but confused, yet still managed to be a cute reminder of Riku's voice. Dark chuckled and gave Sayo a light wink.

"I'm surprised you don't recognize me. Just a few minutes ago, I had a friend of yours come to me because she knew me." he joked softly. Sayo stared at him more, as if trying to see if she did indeed know him. But then she frowned and shook her head a bit.

"No, I'm afraid I don't know who you are." she said flatly, then turned back to her friends, who were still gaping up at Dark. His brows furrowed, thinking that she would have at least heard of him from her friends. "Guys, I'll see you tomorrow. I have to get home and feed Ai."

Sayo took one last glance toward Dark, her eyes taking in his amethyst eyes and tall form, then spun on her heels and walked away, her bookbag quietly thumping against her back with each step. Dark stared after her, not expecting that kind of reaction from her. But he thought it would only make for a fun challenge; trying to get Sayo to like him. A small smirk passed over Dark's lips as he thought more about that idea. Yep, sounded like a ton of fun to him.

"Why is Phantom Dark here in the open?" one of the girls asked in a loud whisper to another one of the girls. He chuckled and turned to them, immediately getting their attention. He gave the girls a small wink.

"It's hard to see all the pretty girls here in the dark." he told the girl who had spoken to her friend. "The sunlight really captures the radiance much better, although moonlight makes for a better mysterious quality, wouldn't you agree?" The girls blushed heavily and the boys picked up on their awed expressions. Dark knew it was time to find Sayo again, then, and he nodded his farewells to the teens as the boys tried to snap the girls out of their dazes from Dark and his smile.

He made his way out of the school gateway and looked down the sidewalk either way, hoping to catch a glance of the maiden that had stolen his heart. But unfortunatly, he didn't find any of the black hair he had seen from afar all those months before. With a deep but soft sigh, Dark shook his head, smirking in entertainment, and started walking down the street, hands in pockets, and back toward Daisuke's home.

"What do you mean, she didn't know you?" Daisuke asked that evening after he had finished putting away the dishes. He sat down at the table where his mother and grandfather sat, looking at Dark with them. The taller man shook his head slightly, frowning in thought.

"Just that," he explained after a moment's silence. "She said she didn't recognize me and walked away. Her friends knew who I was, though, so I'm wondering why she would say that."

Everyone fell silent as if trying to figure out the problem he was having with Sayo. Daisuke frowned sympathetically and Dark tapped the table softly with a finger, his amythest eyes trained on the table. Towa came by and placed cups of tea in front of them all, and he smile gratefully at her.

"Well, maybe it was shock." Emiko suddenly said, putting a finger in the air like she had just gotten an idea. Dark looked up at her, an eyebrow raised for an explaination. Emiko giggled and closed her eyes. "Well, if you think about it, she's probably only seen you on television and would never think that you'd come up to her so suddenly today. So when you _did_, she was so shocked to see you in person, trying to ask her out in your own way, that it made her momentarily forget who you are."

Dark chuckled to himself and took a sip of the hot tea, then laid it down and looked at Emiko. "I don't know, but it might be it. I'll talk to her tomorrow just in case, though." He flashed the family a confident smirk and wink. "Don't worry, I'll get my Sacred Maiden soon enough."

Daisuke smiled and laughed to himself, happy that his other half had someone to be in love with, just like he did with Miss Riku. And he believed the ex-Thief when he said he'd get Miss Aisaka eventually, and if he could help, he would. When Daisuke voiced his thoughts, Dark smiled gratefully and chuckled again, standing up.

"I'll let you know if I ever need your help with Sayo, Daisuke." he said smoothly. "But I'm sure I can do this. After all, I'm just doing what I do best- stealing a girl's heart. I just have to work a bit more with this one and this work is something I'm going to enjoy doing."


	3. Chapter 2

**Again, I say that I do not under any curcumstances own Dark, Daisuke, Emiko or any other characters that Yukiru Sugisaki made all her own!**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Sayo sighed heavily and fell backward onto her bed, her hair already out of its scrunchie and now behind her head like a black cape. Her white Persian kitten, Ai, jumped onto her chest and she began petting her, her amber eyes stuck on the ceiling as she fast-forwarded her day to the moment she heard Dark's low whisper of a voice in her ear, shivering slightly in the thought of his words.

_"...I hear today is your eighteenth birthday..."_

Sayo closed her eyes and turned to her side, holding Ai firmly in her arms. But the kitten wouldn't have being held so much and it wriggled out of her owner's arms and Sayo watched the small ball of white bounce down from her bed and slip out the door to downstairs. Sayo frowned a bit, rolling onto her back again, and sighed deeply, unable to forget the look on Dark's face. She wasn't expecting to see him at her school, let alone looking for _her_! How did he _want_ her to respond to him- squeal like one of his prepubecent fangirls and jump into his arms in happiness? Uh, no. She was shocked, yes, to see him, but not enough to go crazy. Besides, she always thought that because he was a well-known figure in the city, he'd only bother with _other_ well-known figures and think that the rest of the people weren't famous enough or worthy to be bothered with.

So how was it that he knew _her_?

Sayo shook her head, freeing herself of the nagging thoughts, and stood up, changing out of her uniform and into a dark blue mini-skirt and a egg-shell white blouse, taking the hair scrunchies out and brushing her hair. She stared out the window and wondered if the handsome Thief would be swooping in and flirting with her like he did with his other fans. With another shake of her head, Sayo went downstairs and fixed herself something to eat. She looked around for Ai afterwards, searching high and low for the kitten that kept her company in the otherwise empty mansion.

"Ai! Where are you? Come get your food, baby!" she called out, going upstairs in case the ball of fluff went to her room to take a nap on her bed. She went down the hall, passing all the closed doors until she came to a scratched up door at the end of the hallway that was open just the slightest bit- just enough for Ai to go through. Sayo paused, her breath hitching in her throat as she realized what the room was, and took a deep, brave breath as she pushed open the door and peeked inside, hoping that Ai _wasn't_ there and she could just leave the room alone. But then she heard a soft mewling and bit her bottom lip nervously, pushing open the door fully and stepping in.

Even in the darkness, Sayo could see the toppled over chairs and tables, and the strewn papers that were once in neat piles and clean. She had to pause for another second as the musty scent of old time came up to her nose and she sneezed, shuddering from the smell. Reaching around next to her, she found the light switch and flicked it on, blinking as her sight registered the new yet dull light, casting shadows over the old King-sized bed laying feet ahead of her. Her breath hitched again and she looked away for a split moment, trying to lose the flashing images in her mind.

Sayo heard another mew from Ai and opened her eyes, looking for the kitten in the room. She walked around, carefully stepping over the scattered papers on the floor around her and over open books until she found her Ai happily curled on a quilt that had slid off the bed and fallen in a heap to the floor. Sayo let out a soft sigh of relief and smiled happily, picking up the cat and cuddling her to her chest. Ai mewled again and wriggled once more out of Sayo's arms, dropping to the floor and picking something else up in her mouth, nudging it onto her foot.

"What's this, Ai?" she murmured, kneeling down to take it from her mouth. She raised it into the light and her eyes widened in sadened shock, her other hand covering her mouth and the muffled choking sob that came out of her. She stared at the frayed photo of her as a child and two adults behind her, all of them smiling widely and holding up a small plastic bag with a single large koi fish, swimming happily around and around. Sayo stood, taking the photo with her, and then picked up Ai again, getting out of the room and closing the door tightly behind herself. She leaned agaisnt the door, sighing heavily and feeling better from being out of the stuffy room.

So many emotions and memories went in and out of her head just from seeing the old photo of her parents and herself before the accident ten years ago. Ten long years that she'd sworn to forget and not forget at the same time. She glanced down at the photo once more, studying the faces of her and the adults as if it were her first time looking at it, or as if she expected their gleeful and joyous expressions to change. But of course they hadn't, and Sayo sighed heavily, berating herself as a foolish idiot for thinking it would look differently.

Ai mewed at Sayo's side, and suddenly, the world turned back to its vivid and clear self, snapping Sayo out of the bleak and dismal world she had cast herself in from the picture. Picking up her cat, she stood up and went back to her room, where she laid Ai on her bed and turned to her balcony, opening the two Victorian doors widely so the cool fall night wind could gently sweep through her hair and dry the sweat that had collected on her forehead. She took a slow and long, deep breathe, closing her eyes, already feeling more relaxed and calm than before. She opened her eyes and looked out to the darkened black sky and the tiny shining dots that she always tilted her head in awe at. She wondered how large flaming balls of gas could manage to look so other-wordly and beautiful, and just when she let out a soft sigh of contentment, a sudden gust of wind blew her blacony doors shut behind her and she gasped in surprise.

"Hello, birthday girl. Did I happen to frighten you this afternoon?" Phantom Dark asked in a soft murmur into Sayo's ear behind her back. She stiffened slightly and her breath hitched in her throat as Dark chuckled and pulled back to face her, a playful smirk on his face. He swept his head and an arm out for an elegant bow and he chuckled again, looking up at Sayo with his eyes glittering in the night light.

"It's you." Sayo stated bluntly, her voice breathy and yet flat. Dark stood straight and put his hands on his hips, gazing down at her. "What are you doing here? How did you even find out where I _lived_, for that matter?" She crossed her arms over her chest and let out a heavy but almost inaudiable sigh. "Don't tell me you're _stalking_ me. First my school, now at my house. If you show up at my dance recital, I'll have no problem putting a restraining order against you."

Dark raised his hands up in innocence, the smirk on his face not disappearing. "Let's not be hasty in making judgements about me, Sayo. I simply wanted to start off on the right foot this time. I don't believe we were properly introduced when I arrived at your school earlier."

Sayo raised an eyebrow skeptically at the ex-Thief, but said nothing, which gave him the clearance to bow graciously to her and take a gentle hold of one of her hands and raising it to carefully place a kiss onto the back of her hand. He pulled back and looked at her, stepping closer to her without her realizing.

"You may call me Dark, my dear. And I am at your service for anything you may need. Anything at all." he told her softly, his large, black wings disappearing and With landed on the balcony railing, cooing quietly. Sayo blinked at the rabbit creature, pulling away from the boy to walk slowly over to it. Dark chuckled softly behind her. "And _that_," he explained just as quietly, "would be my trusting familiar, With. He's been in the Niwa family for generations and he's yet to fail me. Down-right cute."

"Yeah.. he _is_ cute." Sayo agreed with a tiny smile, gently petting With on the head and listening to him 'kyuu' in enjoyment. She giggled slightly and she heard shifting behind her, figuring it was Dark moving closer to her again.

"I _wasn't_ talking about With." he purred in her ear. Sayo stiffened and pulled back from the feel of his breath on her neck, causing goosebumps all over her body, and leaned against the railing to stare at him. He straightened once more and smiled faintly at her, their eyes locking for several long moments before she frowned and let out a heavy sigh, relaxing her body.

"What do you want from me?" she asked him wearily, rubbing a hand over her forehead. "I don't have any valuables you can take and even if I _did_, I have no intention of giving them to you, okay?"

"The only thing I want to have from you... is _you_." Dark told her with a wink, leaning against the railing beside her. "The only question is... How will I get what I want?"

Sayo pulled away and walked near the balcony doors, ready to leave already. But Dark quickly stopped her by gently grabbing her forearm and pulling her back toward him. She sighed heavily and rolled her eyes toward him, crossing her arms slowly. He looked down at her and something in his eyes made her release her arms and let him say whatever he wanted to say, whatever it was. He realized this and gave her a small half smile. Then he turned to an overgrown tree branch with night flowers blooming and plucked off the largest-blooming flower off the branch, twirling it between his thumb and forefinger. Sayo stared at his back, half watching him with interest as he smiled gently at the flower and turned back to her.

"I've been watching you for some time now, Miss Sayo," he told her in a quiet murmur, looking at her with those deep amythest eyes that momentarily caused her to stare back in slight awe. "You act very out-going with your friends and flirt with the boys, yet when I approached you, you acted as if I were a stranger to you. Now, I _know_ that's not true. You've seen me many times on the T.V. and I _know_ you've wondered about me just as often."

Dark walked slowly over to her, holding the bright yellow flower out to her and she hesitantly took it, holding it to her chest as she blinked up at him. He smiled slightly and stopped in front of her, a hand laying on her shoulder and the other tilting her head up further.

"How.. do you know...?" Sayo whispered, barely heard over the breeze around them. The smile on the boy's face grew a bit and he chuckled, leaning down to look her more in the eye, searching her soul and trying to tell her more without words.

"I'm Dark, Sayo. I just do." he told her before gently pressing his lips to her cheek in a peck. He pulled back and the awed air around her suddenly snapped away, leaving her confused and dazed a bit. He gave her a wink as he grinned playfully. "Or, at least, that's how I like to think of it, anyway."

Sayo frowned and clutched the flower closer to her chest, sending the tall boy a slight scowl. She wasn't sure what had just happened, but she knew that he was no good right now for her, and she had to get some sleep or else her whole day tomorrow would be ruined with her crabby mood. So she sighed heavily and turned to go to her balcony doors, but Dark's voice paused her.

"May I give you a farewell kiss, my lady?"

Even though she could hear the playfullness in his voice and saw the grin on his face when she turned to look at him from behind her shoulder, there was something serious about him and his confident- almost cocky- stance, and she thought for a moment before turning back to her room.

"Why don't you come back tomorrow and find out then?" she told him and as she heard a low chuckle, a sudden gust of wind blew her hard against the doors, gasping in surprise as she quickly looked around and saw Dark was gone, the only thing left behind being the tree branch swaying a bit and a phantom whisper in her ear.

"As you wish, young maiden."

Sayo stayed in her spot for a few seconds, blinking in confusion at what she thought she heard, but shook her head and sighed to herself then opened the doors into her room and closed them behind her.


	4. Chapter 3

**So, here is the next chapter of Dark's road of humanity! ^.^ Sorry it took a while; I was having some writer's block with this one, but I think I'm better now! :D Anyway, I don't own Dark or Daisuke or Krad or anyone like that. I only own Sayo and her additude. xD Read and review, though!

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****Chapter 3**

_That went better than I thought_, Dark thought with a triumphant smirk as he glided silently through the night sky back to Daisuke's house. He was feeling not only pleased with his progress on the young maiden, but also mildly surprised that she'd told him to return the next night. True, she may not have actually _meant_ it, but if she asked, he could say that she _did_ invite him, and she didn't look like a girl who argued with logic like that. Dark chuckled to himself, remembering how cute she'd looked when she started scowling at him when he showed up on her outdoor patio, her little lips pulled down at the corners and her bottom lip almost pouting. He'd used a lot of willpower to refrain from kissing them.

But becoming an actual human was worth every moment of being around Sayo, he thought with a small smile. If he had paid that visit to her with Daisuke watching through his eyes, it wouldn't have felt as memorable- as much as Dark liked Daisuke and hadn't minded him watching through his eyes before. But anything to do with that girl who made the older Thief transform back to his Tamer, he considered private, like she wasn't just another girl he was using his charm to have fun with. She was real; she was a girl who he cared for and wanted to get to know more- what her favorite food was; what she did for fun; what annoyed her (other than _him_ at the moment). She peaked his interest and he knew that once they got closer, she'd become as precious to him as Rika and Risa had.

When he finally arrived back at Daisuke's and landed on his balcony that showed the great view of the Harada's mansion in the far distance, not even a second passed after With morphed back into his cute rabbit form when Daisuke practically broke down the door to get to the older teen.

"Well?" Daisuke pressed, a wide smile on his excited face. Dark smiled slightly at the sight and entered the boy's room, brushing off non-existant flakes of dust from his black attire, enjoying the impatience that was radiating off the ex-Tamer. "Dark, what happened? Please tell me you didn't do anything perverted to her!" Daisuke's tone was slightly begging, and Dark chuckled a bit at it. It was so easy to work him up sometimes, he mused to himself before setting off to go downstairs. Daisuke followed behind him, still trying to get anything out of him.

"Is that Dark? He's back already?" Emiko's voice questioned from the kitchen and when he entered the living room, every member of the Niwa family was there, all eagerly looking at him with anticipation. "How did it go, Dark? Have you found anything out about her remembering you?" Emiko asked him, a warm and joyful smile on her face.

"She didn't deny not knowing me, so that's a start." he told her with a grin, "But she certainly seems to dislike me very much." he added, the look on Sayo's annoyed look etched in his mind. Daisuke's mouth fell open slightly in shock but everyone else didn't seem that fazed by his words. "She seems to think I'm stalking her." Dark said, almost like an after-thought.

Emiko tilted her head, unsure of what to make of his announcement, and gave Dark an encouraging smile. "Well, as long as you're trying you best, Dark. I think that's all that really counts right now. I'd give this girl some time and space so that she knows you won't crowd her." Then her smile grew more. "Did anything else happen after that?" she asked, gripping the back of the couch with excitement. Dark nodded, brushing some of his long hair out of his eyes.

"She _did_ tell me to come back tomorrow night, but for all I know, she may have just said it out because of the moment we'd had." he explained, making it sound more mysterious as he added a playful wink. "But I would never back out of a promise I make, so I'll return to her tomorrow, just like she requested."

"You'll get her yet, Dark." Daiki told him with his own supportive smile, reaching out and patting the teen on the shoulder firmly. "But remember, you're a human now, so you've taken on the responsibilites as one. Don't go behaving recklessly and drawing attention to yourself from the police. It'll be harder to get away without the abilities you had before."

Dark nodded slightly, absorbing the old man's advice. He was right, though. If he got as far with Sayo as he'd hoped he would and then suddenly got involved with the police again, she might not think it as funny or even amusing as he would. Then everything would be lost and he'd have to start over with her, if she wanted anything to do with him at that point. But on the other hand, Dark wasn't _that_ reckless to not know that much. He cracked a small, wicked grin to the man.

"Would I _really_ do something like that? Come on, you give me less credit than I deserve. I've been around long enough to know what I can or can't do." he chuckled, lightly teasing him. "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything dangerous or stupid. At least, I won't on _purpose_." He brought up an air of solomnness suddenly as he gave each family member a determined smirk, his trademark sign of his stubborn nature. "I know what I'm doing... I'm not going to mess this up. Not only will Sayo eventually come around to like me, but she'll also be the lucky one to be my girlfriend."

"Are..." Emiko hesitated a moment before looking at Dark with a concerned expression, her lips slightly pouted in her worry. "Are you going to tell her? About the family, I mean... What you used to be." When Dark hesitated himself to answer, she held a hand out, palm up, and gave him another anxious look. "Dark, if this girl is the one you want to stay with for a long time, I think she has a right to know what she'd be getting into. If you don't tell her... and she finds out herself... she may not trust you anymore..."

"Emiko's right," Kosuke chimed in, sounding just as quiet and grave. "If you put off telling her the truth about you and us, she will probably feel unsure about anything you tell her in the future after that."

Dark looked at both Kosuke and Emiko, seeing the creases in their faces as they advised him, and knew they were right about that as well. He finally nodded and held his hands up as if to show defeat, his voice light and aloof.

"I hear you both. Don't worry; I'll tell her. But not until the right moment comes up. I _do_ know how to deal with these kinds of situations, you know. You'll all have to trust me on this one." he told them, giving them a wide, confirming grin. After a few beats, everyone gave him a relieved smile in return, clearly assured by his words that he knew what he was doing. He glanced over at the clock, seeing how late it was, and raked a hand through his hair. "Now, if you don't mind, I think I'm going to go to bed. Sleep is calling to me and I think the same would be good for all of us here."

And with that, everyone began getting ready for bed, and as Dark laid in his new bedroom, he stared up at the blank ceiling, unable to sleep. His mind was too busy with the constant stream of memory from his visit to Sayo's, and he couldn't help but crack a small smirk at how she'd reacted to him. He was so used to girls fawning and swooning over him that whenever a girl _wasn't_ interested, like Sayo and Riku had been, he felt as if he had no choice but dive into their lives; that's how he discovered Sayo Aisaka. While he'd been flying back to Daisuke's, listening to his fangirls' cries for attention on them fade into the background din, he'd noticed one girl walking down the dark street and when he slowed to watch her, wondering mementarily why she wasn't with the others, he realized what a beauty she was. And the streetlight over her as she walked below it caused her to look like an black-haired angel, and the attraction he had for her was instant from that moment. He quickly found out that she went to the high school that Daisuke would be attending one day- Azumano High- and not only was she uninterested in what the girl's crowed over about the Phantom Thief, she also didn't listen to themw hen they tried telling her how amazing and handsome he was.

She was certainly an interesting and beautiful one, this Sayo Aisaka, which only deepened his love for her. Not to mention her sarcasm and stubborn additude he encountered earlier that evening. Certainly not like any other girl Dark ahd ever met, other than Riku, but she was taken by Daisuke and so, the Thief had no true intention on snagging her (not that he'd been trying to for real before). But Sayo Aisaka... She was something else and Dark was determined to figure it out and steal her heart at the same time.

After all, he was Phantom Dark; if he could steal priceless items and such and elude the police, then he could most definitely get the hang of being human and making a beautiful maiden fall for him.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

As Sayo got ready for school the next morning, she wondered every so often if that flirtatious Thief was indeed going to make another appearance at her home that night. She tugged on her skirt and white socks and packed the bento she'd made the previous night, when she first got home _before_ that Thief visited her. Just as she checked the time- she had five minutes to spare before she'd be late for the train to school- and locked the door behind her, she felt her cell hpone vibrating in her jacket pocket. Wondering who would be phoning or texting her that early in the morning, she flipped open the old-fashioned looking phone and sighed a bit to herself when she saw the all-caps text from her best friend, Mikki, who also happened to be in the unofficial Phantom Dark fanclub at their school.

'HE DIDN'T SHOW UP LAST NITE! WHAT HAPPNED TO HIM?' the text read, and Sayo had to refrain herself from groaning out loud, as she was now at the train stop that she got on to get to school. It was one of those messages Mikki sent to a dozen or so people, forgetting that Sayo was one of those people and didn't care about the news. Even so, she replied anyway, knowing that Mikki wasn't really texting _her_ about it.

'Dark is a guy who's wanted by the police. Most of us at school aren't involved with the authorites that way, so what makes you think _we'd_ know why he didn't show up last night?' she typed, horribly slow because she didn't text much. After she sent the message and slipped the phone back into her pocket, she half wondered with amusement what Mikki would say if Sayo told her that Dark probably dodged the police by going to her house that night instead of doing whatever he usually did. She'd probably choke the life out of Sayo first then demand what he was doing there and not making a show at the local museum where he was supposed to be.

Sayo continued thinking about Mikki and occasionally straying to Dark and last night when she was suddenly knocked about and if it weren't for the wall behind her to catch a hold on, she would've fallen right on her butt. She let out a small yelp and when she looked up, she saw a nice-looking red haired boy with wide, deer-like ruby eyes staring at her with surprise and embarrassment. She blinked for a moment, thinking she'd seen him from somewhere, and jolted a bit when he held a hand to her, smiling shyly.

"Are you alright? Sorry about that; this place gets so crowded in the mornings." he told her sheepishly, pulling her to her feet properly when she took his hand. She brushed off the bits of dirt from her skirt and shook her head.

"Nah, it's cool," she assured him with a grin. "I know what you mean. Some people here are so pushy, they'd sell their soul to get a spot here without getting smushed right into the wall here." She chuckled softly and straightened, adjusting her bag on her shoulder. The boy simply stared at her, as if trying to place her, just as she had seconds ago. After a few beats, he shook it off and bowed to her, making her smile slightly. He went to the juniour high school near hers, she realized when she saw his uniform. Then he straightened and beamed a happy-go-lucky smile to her.

"I'm Daisuke Niwa." he introduced himself, sounding just a bit shy. Sayo giggled and bowed back.

"Sayo Aisaka." she told him and not even a second after she said her name, his face plastered shock and his mouth fell open a bit. But he quickly caught himself before she could say anything, only managing to raise an eyebrow at him inquisitively. "What was _that_? Am I famous in your school or something?" she asked him with a dry laugh, not once doubting that may be true. She was one of the few girls in all the Azumano schools who didn't constantly swoon over Dark and his so-called good-looks. Although, from what she'd seen last night, Dark _was_ a looker, even though admitting it was a pain in the neck for her. But the girls who weren't amused by him were known everywhere in the schools and, some more than others, claimed to have met him personally and given him what-for in regards of the ones who didn't like him. Sayo believed them as much as she could climb Mount Fuji in three hours.

"Um, n-not really. I just thought you were familiar from somewhere and I think I was right..." Daisuke said, mumbling off at the end so Sayo could barely hear him. But she did and gave him a curious look.

"You do? From where? I don't go out much other than for school, so if you recognized me, then I'd probably have seen you, too." she told him, tilting her head slightly. Daisuke looked at her, his eyes trained on her eyes, which were looking right back, waiting for an answer from the younger boy. Finally, after a long minute of silence between them, they snapped out of their concentrating stares when the whistle for the train came from the distance, announcing that it would be at the station within minutes. Hordes of people began shoving and pushing their way to the fronts, trying hard to be first inside so they could get a seat.

Daisuke yelped and tried to avoid the elbows and sharp-cornered bookbags of the students around him just as Sayo grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him in a zig-zag path, leading them to the front. Sayo glanced behind her shoulder to him, grinning crookedly.

"We're tiny, so people won't notice us when we slip in before them. We'll get seats for sure." she explained, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. Daisuke blinked, but said nothing as the train finally halted inches in front of them, and they quickly slipped inside, just as she said they could, and found seats almost instantly. But when they sat down, they didn't really have much to say; Sayo because she didn't know anything about whatever guys his age liked and Daisuke because he was afraid he'd slip up and say something about Dark that he wasn't supposed to know.

The ride to their respective schools was dead silent, but not awkward. Both felt comfortable around the other and occasionally would share a grin or laugh whenever a person in front of them stumbled into another person in front or behind them. It was as if they were watching a circus and the train was the tent.

"Sayo! Sayo, _there_ you are!" a girl's voice called out in relief, coming through from the crowded hall of Azumano High. Sayo paused and waited as a short, pink-haired girl raced toward her, barely squeezing between two boys who were yukking it up over some radio station. When the girl finally caught up to Sayo, she gasped out a long string of words, not once taking in a breath. "Whathappenedlastnight,'tshowupandthen_he_didn'tcome!" After her spiel, Sayo's best friend finally breathed in deeply, giving the taller girl an annoyed face. Sayo blinked, mentally going over what she'd said to make sense of it, then a light came on in her brain and she groaned, holding a hand to her face in stupidity.

"_Shit_. Knew I was forgetting something last night." she muttered under her breath. To Mikki, she said, "Sorry... I kinda got detoured last night and either lost track of time or it just completely slipped my mind. But either way, he didn't show up, so it's not like I missed anything exciting."

Mikki's bright green eyes widened in shock and she shook her head so hard that her unruly curls bounced against her whole face. "That's where you're wrong, my good cherè! That really little police inspector guy, Commander Hiwatari? Yeah, he came by last night and was the one who decided to make the police search the entire town! You had to be either dead or _seriously_ dead asleep to miss it!" she exclaimed, obviously still awed by the events of the previous night. Sayo raised an eyebrow at that, and frowned a bit as she wondered if she'd missed the searchlights and police sirens simply because she'd been with Dark? She shook her head then, dismissing that thought the moment it came into her head. Naw, a guy couldn't affect her _that_ much to make those kind of things go unnoticed by her. She would've certainly seen and heard it if they'd been in her area, so they obviously didn't check the _whole_ entire town.

They began walking to their first class, one of the few classes they had together that year, and Sayo shook her head again, this time apologizing to Mikki.

"Sorry. But even if Phantom Dark _did_ show up, you should know by now that it wouldn't interest me." she stated, opening the door to their Natural History classroom, where she froze and stared wordlessly up at the brown-haired school reporter who was currently standing on top of the teacher's desk with some sort of photos in both hands, looking triumphant and proud.

"That's right, girlies and dudes!" Ichijo exclaimed in her best announcer voice, "All I ask is for you to let me copy your notes for today and in return get a bitchin' photo of Phantom Dark! Either with a sexy pose for the laddies, or a cool flying and taking-action pose for the bro's! This is one of the best deals I've ever thought of, don't you agree?"

Sayo sighed heavily and walked to her desk, watching Mikki in the corner of them to make syure that she was following. But instead, the petite emerald-eyed girl was staring awe-struck at the pictures in the photographers hands, clearly debating on wheather or not to give up notes in exchange for the almighty snapshots.

"Mikki, over here, will you?" Sayo ground out, snapping her fingers and pointing to her friend's seat beside her. Mikki reclutantly started walking over, but kept her eyes on the girl on the desk, a child-like exprssion of amazment on her face. Finally, after some rather pointless banter about nonsense over the pictures and how priceless they'd be if one of them had it when Dark suddenly disappeared like he had forty years ago, Mikki sat down and Ichijo jumped off the desk, getting some poor sucker to sell off his notes and risk the trouble of getting detention for it just as the teacher came in, giving Ichijo a wary eye when she saw the dusty footprints on the top.

"Miss Minai, this is the last time I'm going to ask you to stop standing on my desk. It's bothersome having to continuously brush off your mess when I come in." she told the girl, sounding half tired, half joking. "If you must stand on something for your little announcements, why not your own chair or desk? At least then, you'd have to clean it before you use it."

"I was giving away my most collectible pictures of Phantom Dark, Miz! You can't expect me to stand on something so tiny when I have big news like _that_!" Ichijo complained, but sighed in feigned sadness as she sat down in her own seat a row and two chairs up from Sayo. "No one understands my need for selling things around here."

Then the bell rang and off went the first class, half of which was missed by Sayo as she gazed out the window, staring up into the bright and light blue sky and fluffy white clouds that drifted lazily around as if to taunt her that they were free and she had to endure hours of boring lessons. Every so often, however, her attention would falter from outside when her teacher called on her, or that one time when class was minutes away from ending, she could've sworn she saw a shadowed figure standing out in the schoolyard, their arms crossed over their broad chest and their posture straight, like they were looking back at her; like they were waiting for her.

Sayo blinked and rubbed her eyes, but the shadow was gone. She hesitantly took her eyes away from the yard then, hoping she wasn't going insane, or worse, starting to get excited whenever she thought Dark was around. Insane would be a better choice for her, she thought dryly.

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**That's right, I made Sayo's class have a female, high school equivalent of Saehara! xD I just couldn't resist! But Ichijo has no relation to him, so don't worry! I just needed another crazy girl in the mix, so I decided to make another Dark fanatic, but who took pics of him, and behold, Ichijo was born! :D Anyway, my goal for this story is to write a new chapter every night (I write them at like one in the morning when I'm tired like something sick and yet, they still come out amazingly great. Weird.) and upload it the next day. But that's only what my goal is, not saying that that's what's gonna happen. Anyway, the more reviews I get, the happier I am and the faster I write more so you may all have new chapters to read every day! :D Remember that when you read it! ^.^**


	6. Chapter 5

**Okay, so I didn't really have any inspiration on what this chapter would be like, so sorry in advance for the horribleness of this one... I feel so ashamed... Ironically, I'm actually watching/listening to D.N. Angel right now... Anyway, here goes with the disclaimer... I DO NOT OWN D.N. ANGEL, DARK, DAISUKE OR ANY OTHER CHARACTERS. I ONLY OWN SAYO, MIKKI AND ICHIJO. IF YOU THINK OTHERWISE, YOU NEED TO GET YOUT BRAIN CHECKED. xD That is all. *cookies to all***

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**Chapter 5**

Dark _hated_ waiting. Not for an instant could he ever stand around and do nothing as the girl he loved went around her school with her friends and see her smiling and laughing. He didn't stick around much longer, though, as he didn't want to be seen by a stray student walking around the high school grounds. Not only was he still fresh from stopping his Phantom Dark act, but h didn't want to be accused of being a pervert. So, as he strolled down the street back to Daisuke's house, he wondered to himself what it'd be like to be around Sayo while she was in class. That brought up another thought; one that peaked his interest ever so slightly and even brought a little amused smirk on his face.

Maybe he could transfer into Sayo's school and make sure he was in most of her classes. Yeah, and maybe he wouldn't get in trouble with the police for trying it. It wasn't like he could disguise himself or anything so that no one but Sayo could recognize him. When he was still just a Phantom, he probably could've hidden his identity better than he could _now_ as a human. Sure, he could _try_, but he didn't think it would last very long.

Dark finally made it to the Niwa's, where Emiko and Towa were waiting for him in the living room. He gave them a small smirk and chuckled, nodding to them.

"What's this about? Miss me that much?" he teased gently, sitting on the couch. Emiko and Towa shared a side-long glance and then looked back at Dark. He noticed it and raise an eyebrow smoothly at them in wariness. "What? Don't tell me this human thing is temporary." he asked them, his voice quiet and slightly hard. If that was the case, then he didn't have as much time with Sayo than he hoped for. But when the two women shook their heads, he was able to relax and give them a charming smile, allowing them to speak.

"Well, you see, Dark..." Emiko began, then hesitated to continue, like she wasn't sure how to put her words into real sentences. "We were thinking about it very hard... And the only solution we could think of that might help you win your Sacred Maiden over... Well, to be honest, I'm not sure how well it'd work out in the long run..."

Towa then cut in, giving Dark a reassuring grin and went behind him, beginning to rub his shoulders. He glanced behind one shoulder to the Gothic Lolita maid, but said nothing. Half of him wanted to just demand them to tell him if something was wrong, but the logical part of his brain knew that whatever they were trying to tell him had something to do with Sayo, and so he listened quietly.

"Maybe.. you could try enrolling into Azumano High, Dark." Emiko finally said, her tone uncertain yet peppy like her usual self. It was then that Dark registered her words and chuckled louder than usual, shaking his head in amusement as he stood up and laid a hand onto Emiko's shoulder. He flashed a cocky grin down to her.

"That's just what _I_ was thinking." he told her, then pulled from her and put a hand to his chin in thought, his other hand on his hip. "But I'd never get past the paperwork. It'd seem too suspicious if someone who looks like me and such suddenly came into her school. It would raise too many eyebrows. I think the best thing to do is leave everything the way it is now. Sayo have her school life and I'll see her at night."

Just then, the front door opened and Dark heard Daisuke call out that he was home. Turning around so that he could watch the redhead come into the living room, he saw that Daisuke was still trying to get used to seeing Dark in front of him. But he was getting better, Dark admitted to himself, seeing the younger boy blink widely at the taller boy and then shake his head, sighing softly.

"Boy, Dark, you sure know how to pick your Sacred Maidens." he said, mostly to himself, but Dark wasn't going to let that comment go. The amethyst haired man chuckled and grinned slightly at the boy.

"What do you mean?" he asked, "You've seen Sayo finally without my help?" To his surprise, Daisuke nodded. "Really? Where?"

"I nearly knocked her into a wall this morning on the way to school at the train station." he said and sounded embarrassed by it. "She has a very.. interesting way of thinking, Dark. Good luck with her... really." Then he cracked a sheepish grin to the older boy. "But I'm sure you can get through to her. After all, you're Phantom Dark. Even Riku is softening to you, y'know?"

Dark chuckled lightly and shook his head, amused that Daisuke would and could think such things about his former other half. Ye of little faith, came to mind to him and it took a good amount of willpower to keep it to himself.

"Dai, do you have any homework?" Emiko asked suddenly, distracting everyone from the subject on hand. Daisuke looked up at his mother with a surprised look, but then nodded miserably and waved to them before turning and heading up to his room. After that, Emiko and Towa started discussing what to make for dinner, leaving Dark to figure out what to do with the few hours before leaving for Sayo's.

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**Wow.. this is my most uneventful and worst chapter so far O.O God, I hope this doesn't last long... Anyway, yeah. They thought about having Dark attend Sayo's school but didn't want to go through the risk of him getting caught, I guess. The next chapter will be much better, hopefully. I apologize for the lack of greatness this chapter has! Read and review as usual, if this hasn't turned you off xD**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Sayo stared at her essay, her pencil hovering over the blank paper like it intended on writing something but had no motivation. In fact, Sayo didn't really know what to write. Her Natural History teacher had told the class to write a one-page essay on a historical figure in Azumano of their choice, but Sayo really didn't know who tow rite about. There wasn't a single historical figure that she remembered that interested her. She had her book open in front of her and no matter how many times she flipped through all the pages with them, she just _couldn't_ find anyone. It was like her brain had flipped to the 'off' position the moment she got home, making her wait (almost half eagerly, she hated to admit) for Dark to show up.

With a heavy sigh, Sayo closed her eyes and dropped her pencil, temporarily giving up on writing her essay. It wasn't due for two weeks, anyway, so she had plenty of time to find someone. She laid her chin in her crossed arms on the desk, staring at the empty wall in front of her face, blinking sluggishly. She couldn't help but wonder if _this_ was what girls felt like when they were waiting for an important date to just come by already.

Ai mewed beside her on the floor, and Sayo glanced down to see the kitten sitting ever so obediently and looking up at her with her adorable kitten eyes, her white head tilted to the side ever so slightly to show Sayo that she was behaving and wanted a treat for it. Sayo chuckled and pushed back her chair, picking up Ai and making her way down to the kitchen. She opened a new can of cat food for Ai and put it into a saucer along with a clean bowl of water and gave her kitten a gentle stroke down the length of her furry body, down to the tail. With that out of the way, she began going back to the stairs that led up to the hallway where her room was, but a huge slam startled her into yelping and gasping for breath. She cautiously went to the doors that had slammed open so suddenly and took a look out them to see if there was anything in the darkening area. For half a moment, she thought she'd simply imagined the sudden feeling of someone near her, but when she sighed deeply and turned to go back inside, she jumped to the roof at the tall figure in front of her.

But upon further inspection, she realized it was only Dark. She let out a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment to collect herself before opening them again and looking up into the deep, amethyst eyes of the boy. As she did, Dark gave her a playful and light wink, chuckling softly.

"I told you I'd come back tonight..." he said to her in the voice that melted the hearts of every single girl in Azumano. Except Sayo. She only gave him a flat look and blinked.

"I didn't think you'd actually come by, though..." she muttered under her breath, walking around Dark to go back inside. His voice stopped her once more, his tone light as it always was with her.

"Well, if that's the case, then perhaps you'd like to go with me tonight?" he asked her. Sayo turned around to give him a puzzled expression, feeling her pulse race for some reason. The look in his eye made her understand that he was completely serious, even if he didn't _sound_ it. She tucked some hair behind an ear with a slightly shaking hand and swallowed the huge lump in her throat. She didn't know why she was acting this way with him but she didn't want to show her nervousness, so she merely squared her shoulders and looked up at him.

"If I say yes, will you leave me be?" she asked him, her voice stronger than she intended it to sound. Dark took a moment to answer, as he was too mesmerized by her eyes and the fact that he was close enough to her at the moment that he could easily lean down and steal a kiss. But he didn't; instead he put his hands on his hips and gave her a casual smile.

"If that's what my maiden asks for, then I will grant it." he told her smoothly, watching her face turn the slightest shade of pink. His smile widened; he was finally getting to her- _perfect_! His plan was going a lot faster and smoother than he's thought! He could practically see the little wheels in Sayo's mind turning as she thought it over, fingers curled slightly around her chin in thought; eyebrows cutely knitted together as she concentrated... Everything about her was amazing. Finally, after what felt had to be an hour, Sayo glanced up at Dark, her lips twitching for a smile but her eyes looking at him cautiously.

"Fine. I'll go out with you, Dark." she told him with a curt nod as if to confirm her statement. "Stay here and I'll go upstairs and change into something more suitable." And with that, she spun around on her heel and marched inside, keeping the doors that he had accidentally on purpose blew open to get her attention. As she walked away, Dark couldn't resist the triumphant smirk playing on his lips and he quietly chuckled, knowing exactly what he was going to do. He was going to give her such a fantastic time that she'll be taking back her request for him to leave her alone. In fact, she'd be _begging_ to keep seeing him and soon after that, she'd agree to be his girlfriend. Yes, it was all coming together perfectly..

A few minutes later, Dark heard footsteps coming down the stairs and when he glanced up, he nearly let himself blush heavily at the sight. Sayo was wearing a off-the-shoulders light blue sweater and he could see the thin straps of a black tank top on those smooth, creamy shoulders. The sweater stopped a little lower than a normal sweater would, almost reaching her knees and coming to a halt right before it covered her dark red mini skirt. If he thought Sayo was beautiful in her school uniform, then right now, his brain was going _nuts_! She didn't even notice as he took half a step back from how surprised he was as she rummaged through her book bag that was leaning against the side of the couch, muttering to herself about her keys. A second later, she stood, holding the key to her front door.

"Got it. Alright, let's get this show in the road, shall we?" she said in a breathy voice, as if she wasn't looking forward to her 'date' with Dark. He merely chuckled to himself and held his hand out to her, giving her a light wink.

"Anything my maiden asks." he told her in a purr, smirking only a bit as Sayo frowned a little, locked her front door, then came back to him and took his hand, closing the patio doors behind them. She shook her head slightly and he caught her muttering something about getting it over with so she could try writing her essay that night. Then, just as he'd gotten there, he felt With attached as his wings to his back and fly them to the big festival that was happening at the fountain square. He had scooped Sayo into his arms and when they'd gotten high enough, he could feel her stiffen and grab onto his neck more, her warm face burying into his dress shirt. He grinned in amusement at it and held her tighter, tempted to press a kiss to her head. But if he did that, then it might distract her and freak out about the altitude they were at. Best to leave her be in a way that she was comfortable in.

* * *

Minutes later, Dark let Sayo down, keeping one arm casually around her waist as she looked around, her eyes seeming to glitter at the sights and sounds around them. He'd landed in a small area that was being ignored, so that he wouldn't be noticed with his black wings. Dark could see the smile slowly curling on Sayo's face and he leaned down to bring his mouth near her ear to whisper,

"What do you think? Is a festival good enough for a first date... my sweet?"

He watched her cheeks light up the tiniest bit at his cute nickname for her and tore her eyes away from the bright, flashing lights of the children's games and the delicious smells of the food stands to look up at Dark, clearly trying to maintain an air of indifferent composure, but the way her eyes looked so excitedly at him, he _knew_ she was already having fun.

"What would you like to do first, then?" he asked her, pulling away and glancing a all the many things they could do. "Choose anything you'd like, my fair maiden, and we shall do them."

"Well, how about we get something to eat first?" Sayo suggested, giving Dark a bland stink-eye look, reminding him just a _tiny_ bit of Riku. "I didn't get a chance to eat anything at home before you scared the crap out of me." She then looked around at all the food stalls, trying to decide what to get. A few beats later and she sighed, looking at Dark again with a half defeated look on her face. "You choose... Nothing here really strikes me as good food, so whatever you pick will be fine."

Dark nodded and lead Sayo into the crowds of the activities, glancing around at the stalls just as she had. He saw a promising-looking vendor and leaned down slightly to smile into her ear. "Hope you like seafood." he told her, walking to a stand selling shrimp, scallops, mussels; any type of seafood imaginable for Azumano. Stopping in front of the sign that stated what dish had what in it and how much it was, Dark saw Sayo's face beam and he realized that seafood was probably her favorite type of food but didn't eat it often.

"Get whatever you'd like. My treat." Dark said with a wink, his voice carrying only to Sayo. She peered over the choices, finally selecting a plate of shrimp with dipping sauce. He nodded and ordered two of them, then passed her one when he got them. As they walked toward a secluded spot to sit and eat, Dark noticed Sayo glancing up at him more than she normally would. They sat at a table, sitting across from each other, which made it easier for him to gaze into her eyes and tell what she was _really_ feeling.

"Why _me_?" Sayo suddenly asked, taking a bite of a small shrimp dipped in sweet and sour sauce. Dark blinked, slightly confused and taken aback by her question.

"What do you mean?" he asked in return, pushing his own shrimp around the plate. He was much too absorbed in watching Sayo to eat, anyway, and she didn't seem to notice his lack of eating. She rested her chin on the back of her hands, her head tilted a little in thought.

"I mean, why go after me when there are so many other girls in town who actually like you and would do anything to have you talk to them?" she explained, nibbling on a bit of rice she'd gotten as a side. "I mean, you know _exactly_ how I feel about you, but you're so insistent on me, I can't help but wonder why you're going after _me_."

Dark watched her as she spoke, amazed by how observant she seemed to be. He was learning more and more about her as each minute passed! He chuckled softly and gave her a flirtatious smile, half thinking about what to say. Most of his mind knew he was going after her for the simple fact that he wanted to be closer to her and not just make her see how great of a guy he really was, but also to prove that he really wasn't as bad as she thought he was.

"Well now, Miss Sayo, that is indeed a good question." he said, sounding a bit amused. "I see no reason why a male shouldn't try 'going after' you since you're as more beautiful than anything I've ever seen in my life. That, and I enjoy trying to make you see the best of me." he added with a cheeky wink. Sayo rolled her eyes a bit at that, but couldn't help a crooked grin on her face. She shook her head a bit and munched on a shrimp absently.

"You're impossible, Dark." she chuckled softly, but there was a smile on her face, so he knew she wasn't really serious. At least, not as serious as she normally would be. "You'll have to try _hard_ to make me see you in a better light than I do now." She paused then, blinking with a puzzled expression on her face. "By the way, how come you haven't stolen anything lately? Usually the police are trying to catch you after you go steal something, but you haven't given out any warning letters at all. What's up with that?"

Dark was silent for a moment, unsure of how to answer that question without spilling about the Niwa family curse. And he had no intention to tell her _now_ of all times, but knew he had to tell her _something_. He chuckled softly and smiled charmingly at her as she looked at him with a curious expression.

"I've decided to take some time off doing that so I could get to know you better, of course." he told her, reaching a hand out to gently lay on hers. He watched her cheeks go pink again and smiled a bit more. Her eyes trailed down to their now entwined fingers and blinked, as if trying to think of what to say or do next. He smiled more, enjoying that he had this effect on her already. Perhaps he didn't have much to do to make her fall for him. Then suddenly, she said something that made him blink in amused surprise at her.

"Er, we have to write an essay on a historical figure for class." she told him, her words coming out a bit loud and forced than normal. Then she relaxed and continued with a nod. "I mean, it's not that hard of an assignment, but I just can't figure out who to do _mine_ on. None of the ones we've read about interests me enough. I dunno what to do, but hopefully, I'll have some inspiration by the time I go home later..."

"I see..." Dark said with a chuckle, leaning back in his plastic seat. "Well, I'm sure you'll be able to do it. You're a very bright young lady, after all." Then, when he saw that they were both finished eating, he stood up and held his hand out to her, giving her a patient smile. "Shall we go? I'm sure there are plenty of games here you might enjoy."

With a short nod, Sayo took his hand and they both began walking around the festival. Sayo glanced at all the game stalls and finally pointed out one, stopping Dark in his tracks. It was the game where they had to try and catch a small fish with a thin paper net and only won if they managed managed to keep the fish without breaking the paper. They decided to go for a game each and while Sayo was very good, only breaking the paper net once, Dark realized just how difficult it really was to play. He'd never done anything like this before and he was surprised when the fish kept breaking through the paper, splashing him slightly as it landed back into the water.

When he lost for the third time, he heard a snicker behind him. Glancing behind his shoulder, he saw that Sayo was grinning widely and soon, she was bent over with her arms around her stomach as she laughed loudly.

"That was so funny!" she cried out in surprise, "I can't believe you can't catch any fish; it's too hilarious! I never knew you were so bad at this!"

Dark stood up, slipping a hand into his pants pocket, and smiled at her. She looked so happy when she laughed, and it made his heart thump hard, something he was still trying to get used to. He simply let Sayo finish laughing before chuckling himself, walking with her to another game.

"Well, I've never played that game before but I guess it takes practice to get as good as you." he told her with a casual shrug, not daring to mention why he never played it. And if she _asked_ him, then he'd think of something on the spot. Thankfully, she didn't and she laughed, now more bright than earlier.

"Man, you suck at that. Maybe we need to get you a home version of that game so you _can_ practice." she said with a grin, "I swear.. I never once imagined that the great and charmer Phantom Dark would be so _bad_ at a simple game. It's mind-boggling, really. I guess you _aren't_ as annoyingly perfect as your fangirls claim. They've never seen your Tobby Kingyo skills, or lack thereof."

After that little fun, Dark and Sayo continued playing games around the festival, the mood much playful and happy now that Sayo had finally relaxed around Dark. As the festival started to shut down, Dark flew Sayo back to her house, landing gently and gracefully on her bedroom patio. He let her down and she gave him a smile.

"I actually had fun tonight, so... thanks..." she told him, suddenly shy and soft-spoken. Dark smiled and chuckled, putting his hands into his pockets and his wings folded against his back to make more room for them.

"I had a great time as well, my sweet." he agreed with a nod. He was glad that it went well; but then again, he didn't expect it to flop, so it was obvious that it would work out great. He watched Sayo look up at him with her cheeks pink once more and he stepped closer to her, giving her a small wink. "Will tonight be the night I get a farewell kiss?" he asked quietly. A small smile slipped onto Sayo's face and he tilted his head to the side a tiny bit in curiosity.

"No, it won't be." she told him in a light, airy voice. "You are not kissing me good night, Dark." Then she reached up and put a chaste kiss onto his left cheek, surprising him just a bit. She pulled back and gave him her own wink, sticking her tongue playfully at him. "Because tonight is the night _I_ give _you_ a kiss. You shouldn't hog all the fun for yourself, you know."

Dark stared wide-eyed at Sayo, his heart racing from her kiss and he could feel his cheek burning happily as a reminder of what she'd done. Then she giggled slightly and gave him a short wave before opening her bedroom doors and heading inside, closing them behind her without another word to him. He stayed, standing on her balcony like a love-crazed fool, unable to get over the shock that _she_ had just kissed _him_. He hadn't expected that and it was an understatement when he realized that it made him love Sayo even more. Not only was she beautiful, funny and smart, she was also quite the charmer when she wanted to be. He shook his head, snapping out of his trance, and chuckled as he flew back home, unable to get the feeling on her lips on his cheek out of his mind.

* * *

**So there we have Sayo and Dark's first date! ^^ It's bit longer because I figured I ahd to make up for such a crappy chapter last time ^.^'' Anyway, it seems that Sayo is warming up to Dark, huh? :D Is that romance I smell in the air? Well, hopefully I'll have the next chapter writen and posted soon! :D As always, read and review!Oh, and the game that Sayo called Tobby Kingyo? Yeah, I don't know if that's the actul name of it, so if it's not, don't hold me responsible for any errors I may have done for that. xD I just didn't know the name so I looked it up and found something similiar to the one I was thinking about.  
**


	8. Chapter 7

**Wow, uhm.. Yeah. xD I can't think of any excuse as to why I haven't updated other than I've had the worst writer's block in the history of, like.. ever. That, and I've been trying to sort out some personal stuff with my family and I haven't had the time to do anything lol Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter because it just _might_ be the last one for a while until I get everything sorted out and my writer's block, well.. unblocked. xD**

**Disclaimer!: I own nothing about Dark, Daisuke or any other characters like that. I only own Sayo, her classmates and this coolio plot :D**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

"This is _highly_ suspicious! Care to give me an explaination, Miss Aisaka?" Ichijo exclaimed the next morning, perched atop the teacher's desk as usual, holding out the newspaper that was delivered to each classroom every day. Sayo blinked sluggishly, still trying to get her brain to wake up from her short night of sleep after struggling to think of who to write about for her paper, and stared at the front page of the newspaper her class president was pointing feverishly to. Instantly, she saw an arial view of the fesival she'd attended with the Phantom Thief the previous night and her mind snapped to attention, thinking Ichijo had noticed Sayo in the picture with Dark. But when her eyes scanned the picture intently, she didn't see any sign of herself laughing along with the amethyst haired teen in relief. She looked back up to Ichijo, who was giving Sayo a mild glare in frustration.

"What are you talking about, Class Rep?" she sighed out heavily, raking a hand through her still-mussed up hair. She went to her desk and sat down, hanging her bookbag on its hook as Ichijo jumped off the desk and followed Sayo to hers, slamming the paper in front of her.

"I'm _talking_ about why Dark's mysterious escapades isn't on the front cover this year!" the photographer snapped, tapping the picture with her pointer finger impaitently. "Without fail, for the past few months, Dark's thefts have always taken over the front, no matter what almighty special event was going on otherwise! So why, this year for the Children's Festival, would Dark not show up? _And_ he hasn't been popping up in town at all the past few months, either! Care to explain, Miss Aisaka?" Ichijo finished with a breath of aggravation toward the amber-eyed girl. Sayo did the same and rolled her eyes, taking the brush off Mikki's desk to use with her own hair, all the while giving her class president a frown.

"And just what exactly makes you think that _I'd_ know why Dark isn't front-page news this time?" she asked, half harshly. "Jeez, I'm not even one of his fangirls, if you recall. Try asking one of _them_ and you might get an answer." She dropped the bright pink hairbrush back onto her friend's desk and sighed deeply, trailing her fingers through her hair, making sure that it was tangle-free. With an approved nod to herself, she pushed the paper off her desk, toward Ichijo, but not before taking one last glance at it. She could see the exactly spot where Dark and she had landed that night and the game stand that Dark had amazingly sucked at. But no one else knew what had happened, or the feelings that were making Sayo's heart race at the mere thought of the boy and his smiling laugh.

With a shake of her head to clear her mind, Sayo gave one last shove to the paper and back into Ichijo's arms, and crossed her arms tightly, not daring to give anything away that she knew why the ex-Thief had been absent yet again. As much as she still didn't like Dark, she found herself refusing to let anyone know what _she_ knew, and she also refused to admit that there were tiny feelings brewing inside her toward the boy that _wasn't_ malice or annoyance. He still did, annoy her of course, but not as much as before. Now she didn't really mind his company and more times than expected, she was actually _eager_ to see him and his charming smirk and low, seductive voice. Sayo shook her head once more, harder this time, and ordered her brain to focus on the task on hand, which was class starting up. Ichijo had given Sayo once last hard glance in suspicion before rolling the paper up and twirling around to go to her own desk. But not before pointing a finger accusingly at Sayo, a glint of determination in her eyes.

"Be warned, Sayo Aisaka. I _will_ be back and I _will_ get answers from you about the mystery behind Phantom Dark!" she said in a spooky voice, only causing Sayo to roll her eyes again, but in mild amusement. Then the president was gone and Sayo's attention was once again grabbed by Mikki, who was grinning widely at some news her fellow Dark fangirls told her.

"A rumor! He's going to show up tomorrow night, Sayo!" she giggled happily, unable to hold her excitement in about her dream Thief. Sayo groaned and slapped a hand to her forehead, feeling more drained than ever thought possible for her as Mikki continued. "He's going to take a girl out on a date and fly her to wherever she wants! This is it, Sayo! I'm finally going to meet him! I _knew_ kissing that gross frog statue near the harbour would be worth it! Now Dark will see that I'm his true love!"

Sayo gave her pink-haired friend a half-grin, hoping to look at least supportive, if not happy for her. But inside, she was wondering if that was true; if Dark really _was_ going to bring a girl out on a date and show her a good time. Knowing Dark, she mused dryly, it probably had a chance of being true. But she didn't dwell on it; not right at that moment, anyway, when her best friend was in the middle of her 'true love' rant.

"Well, that's... nice to hear, I guess." Sayo said finally, when Mikki managed to take a breath, chuckling softly. She sat up a bit when the teacher came in, watching the woman sigh heavily and brush the dirt off her desk that Ichijo had left from earlier, and shook her head in wonder. Honestly, being stuck in a class filled with most of Dark's fans was one thing, but to be reminded of him everywhere was another. She might've honestly hated the constant hints at the boy before, but _now_... Well, now her tune was beginning to change and it wasn't making her that happy. Yes, she admitted that Dark was very sweet and polite and charming, the qualities that made his fangirls swoon in the first place, but to realize that he was starting to push his way into her mind- and possibly her _heart_- and invade her every thought like a plague, she wasn't too pleased. Other than Mikki and her classmates, she hadn't allowed anyone into her heart since that day ten years ago...

* * *

Dark sighed inaudibly, his over-anxious hands stuffed into the pockets of his dark and soft cotton jacket, his eyes fixated on the window that Sayo's class was in. He didn't like not being there with her, being able to see her smile for himself and hear her soft laugh or watch her as she focused deeply on whatever was in front of her. But he had to wait; had to wait the long three hours before her school got out for lunch break, then try to gather the courage to go up to her in the day and talk to her then. Sure, he was confident she'd probably enjoy that, but he didn't want to risk getting caught by someone who knew him, or getting picked out within the crowd by one of his many beautiful fangirls. He preferred staying in the shadows for the moment until all talk of him disappeared in the wind like an old newspaper. But until _then_, he'd have to deal with watching over her, making sure no harm came to her. He couldn't help it- being protective of his loved ones was part of him, he couldn't help it.

Dark closed his eyes, allowing the mental image of Sayo grinning crookedly to her pink-haired friend burned on the back of his lids like a negative and blurry photo to fade into nothing before turning to walk back to the Niwa's. Now that he knew she was fine where she was, he could be on his way to figure out what to do. For another day, he was left to do anything he wished, since Daisuke's school started their spring break, then he didn't have to be so bored. It kinda sucked having nothing to do while everyone was in school, and he wasn't sure how exactly to help Emiko around the house. So he just wandered the town by himself, still being careful of being noticed. Luckily, even though he was a human now, he could still call upon With to help him out from anywhere, just in case. But he didn't want to do that often and instead liked roaming, watching the scenery around him at his own leisure, something he hadn't been able to do when he was still part of Daisuke or even Daiki.

Everything had changed from the last time he'd seen it. Even the fountain near the edge of the town had changed, even if it _was_ only the tiniest bit. He remembered when the spout was of a Cupid statue, its arrow aimed toward the ocean, and the water came from its mouth into the small area below. The benches had been made of marble back then, too, but had long since been replaced with the white stone Daisuke had grown up with now. As Dark continued walking around the town more, he smiled lightly to himself, starting to relax now that he didn't have to strain his mind on what he'd normally be doing right now. Instead, he thought back to his date with Sayo, remembering her doubled over in laughter at how he couldn't play a game well. He could tell that _that_ was her true self, smiling and care-free. He could also tell that all the other times, something continuously held her back from enjoying herself a hundred percent with him. He'd find out eventually- he always did- but what concerned him the most was how he would tell her the complete truth about him; how she'd take it then. For the life of him, he just couldn't think of what the perfect time for it would be...

Just then, the loud chiming of the town bell brought Dark back to the present, away from the dim future, and he realized that he'd spent most of the day thinking about the past and Sayo, judging from the dipped sun in the horizon. He looked down at his watch and saw that it was almost time for Sayo's school to go for the day and he smirked happily to himself, making his way back to Azumano High. He could already imagine the surprised look on her pretty little face when she'd see him waiting to walk her home at the gate of her school.

Enjoying the thought of that, Dark picked up the pace, not wanting to miss her.


	9. Chapter 8

"I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Sayo said with a wave to her friends, watching the two girls walk out of the classroom. When they disappeared and Sayo was alone in the room, she sighed heavily and finished packing her bag up. Glancing up to see the time, she realized that she'd taken no time at all to do the cleaning chores that had been assigned to her for the week. But then again, it helped that Mikki and Ichijo had also helped her. Smiling softly, Sayo slid her book bag over one shoulder, took a glance out the window to watch the sunset slowly over the city, and turned to walk out the door and home.

But a figure stood in the doorway and she gasped in fright until she realized that it was only Dark. He chuckled softly and walked closer to her as she tried to recover the breath she'd lost in the scare. She looked up at him, slightly annoyed, and put a hand on her hip, cocking it to one side.

"_Why_ would you do that to me, Dark?" she asked dryly, "Why would you scare the crap out of me like that? Do you know that I honestly thought you were a stalker for a second there? What would you've done if I screamed, huh? What would you do _then_?"

Dark chuckled again and she scowled, wondering why he thought her fright was funny. He stepped so close to her then that she could smell the fresh air on him mixing with his woodsy scent and she stepped back, bumping her back into a desk. He leaned toward her and she could feel his hands moving behind her to lay on the desk, trapping her within his arms. A blush went to her cheeks lightly and she did all she could to refrain herself from letting her bag slip out of her grip and fall to the floor. Instead, she kept her eyes on his, determination and stubborn amber gazing right into deep and hypnotizing amethyst.

"_Well_?" she pressed him, startled by how soft her voice had gotten. "How would you keep me from screaming, Dark?"

"Simple, princess. I'd do this." he said with his trademark smirk before leaning in closer to her until their lips were only a short breath apart. Sayo gasped quietly and felt her balance tremble from how close he was to kissing her. She closed her eyes halfway and waited for the gentle feel of his lips pressing onto hers, but milliseconds later, she could feel Dark pulling back and removing his hands from behind her on the desk. He chuckled softly and she opened her eyes fully, blinking at his amused expression and her odd sense of disappointment. Then she frowned and reached out, gently hitting his shoulder with her palm, turning from him.

"Idiot. What'd you do _that_ for?" she said, annoyed. "You can't just go around doing that to girls, you know, Dark. It gives them the wrong impression of you." She sighed deeply and shook her head, walking out of the classroom with Dark behind her. "Besides, how the hell does nearly kissing me and creeping up on me stop me from screaming if I ever did?"

"Are _you_ able to scream when your lips are covered with someone else's?" Dark asked, still amused slightly. Sayo rolled her eyes and grunted with frustration, throwing her hands into the air, as if admitting defeat at his words. "That's what I thought. And anyway, I wasn't really going to kiss you. It was just a way to show you what I'd do. Isn't that what you asked?"

Sayo shook her head, rubbing a finger against her temple firmly, and looked behind her shoulder to look at the boy. "Is that _really_ how you go about kissing the girls you have, Dark? Sneak up behind them, scare them and then corner them? It's like you're a hunter or something, on the prowl for innocent schoolgirls." Then she added, with a small grin in amusement, "You are such a creeper, Dark."

Dark smiled back and reached a hand toward her, gently brushing the ends of her hair behind her shoulder. As he did, Sayo thought she saw something snap in his eyes, like curiosity or wonder, but just as it had appeared it vanished as he gave her a light wink.

"The only hunting I'm doing is for you, princess. I vow to never give up until I have you in my grasp. Not even if I fall to my death in the far future. In the event that _that_ somehow happens and I still haven't gotten you... I'll force myself to revive and I'll continue my search for your heart." he told her in a low voice, even though they were the only ones in the front entrance of the school. Sayo felt herself blush lightly at that, but made herself roll her eyes and grin a bit to show her usual feelings.

"Wow. Don't you have any other hobbies, besides anything to do with girls?" she questioned, still grinning. Somehow, even when she wanted to be annoyed by Dark, he always managed to amuse her within minutes and she couldn't help but grin around him. He made her feel lighter and forget all the wrongs in the world. It was as if he erased all the bad things and replaced it with only the two of them. Sayo opened the door leading outside the school and closed her eyes in delight as the cool evening air brushed over her and cooled her skin, which had been warm from being inside a building all day long with hundreds of other warm bodies moving about.

"Of course I do," Dark replied lightly, now matching Sayo's slow pace as they began down the hill toward her house. "I enjoy walking at night and talking to others. Watching movies, playing shogi. I do all sorts of things when I'm not with you." He chuckled under his breath softly then. "But I enjoy being with you more than anything. If you'd want to consider _that_ a hobby, anyway."

"Dark, you're totally impossible...!" Sayo laughed just as a spikey-haired boy ran up the hill toward them. She blinked in surprise. "Daisuke? What are you doing in this area at this time of night?" she asked in confusion, stopping the boy in his tracks. Daisuke looked up in mild shock and for an quick second, looked over at Dark, then back at Sayo as he smiled weakly and bowed to her politely.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here either, Miss Aisaka!" he exclaimed. "Dark's walking you to your place, I take it, then? That's good- apparently, there are some bad people going around town the past few days and I was worried you'd get hurt." He turned to Dark then, a warm, proud-like smile on his face. "You certainly have a sense of duty, too, don't you? Mom wanted me to find you and get you home quick just in case."

Sayo stared between the two boys as Daisuke spoke, an eyebrow raised in confusion. She blinked and wagged a finger from one to the other. "Wait, you two _know_ each other?" she asked suddenly, causing Daisuke to jump nervously and Dark to groan silently in defeat.

"Seriously, _how_ do you guys know each other? You've gotta be at _least_ four years apart. And you can't say that you're friends cuz it's a tiny fluke that two guys from different schools would run into each other." she continued, getting more and more confused and irritated. Daisuke laughed weakly and rubbed the back of his head while Dark crossed his arms and looked down at the ground, as if trying to think.

"W-well, you see... I-it's like _this_, Miss Aisaka..." Daisuke began, but was quickly interrupted by Dark, his tone firm, final and so sure of his answer.

"He and I are brothers, Sayo. I know it doesn't seem right, but Daisuke's my younger brother. I would've thought he'd told you when you first met." he explained with a smooth chuckled, reaching over to Daisuke to sling an arm around the shorter boy's shoulders. "Why don't you come over to our house, Sayo? I can tell you more about our crazy mixed-up family."

Hesitating for a moment to rack her mind with the information Dark had given her, she blinked and slowly nodded, scratching her head slightly. Looking at the two males, you'd think they were only friends, but _brothers_? They looked nothing alike, with one being tall and elegant-like and the other being short and klutzy. Sayo shrugged it off, though, letting it be for now as she followed the two boys to their home, still curious about their supposed relation as they whispered fast and hushed to each other just ahead of her.

"Daisuke! Dark! Welcome home!" Emiko giggled happily as the ruby-haired boy opened the door ten minutes later. A woman with short light brown hair flung her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, making him blush furiously when he saw Sayo staring wide-eyed at him, and try pushing his mother away.

"M-mom...! Stop it; we have a guest here!" he complained, managing to slip out of her grip. Dark gestured to Sayo to enter the house further than she was then, and nodded in agreement to his brother's words.

"Mom," Dark said gently, and Sayo noticed Emiko had doubled back in surprise at what he'd said to her, "this is Sayo. The one I told you about?" To Sayo, he said with a grin, "Don't worry. I know she seems a bit odd, but you'll grow to love her. _I_ have. Just relax and be yourself. They'll love you if they have any brains."

With a small blush, Sayo stepped inside more and bowed politely to Emiko, who watched her in curiosity, then was suddenly smiled brightly at and given a warm hug. She didn't know what to do, but she didn't want to be rude, so she hesitantly put her own arms around the woman's neck and lightly hugged back. Then she was pushed back and Emiko's eyes swept over her with happiness and instant acceptance. Dark's mother turned to the tall boy and giggled.

"You really know how to pick them, Dark! She's even prettier in person!" she exclaimed, already ushering Sayo into the living room toward the kitchen. "Come in, come in! I'm sure you're in the mood for a cup of tea! I'll get Towa to make us some and we can have a nice long, girl-to-girl talk!"

"Mom, crowding Sayo won't make her relax. Let her sit down and give her some room to breath." Dark suggested with a light laugh, earning a slight glare from Sayo. Emiko paused and looked at him, then smiled apologetically to Sayo, waving a hand toward the couch in the living room.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just so excited to finally meet the girl that Dark's in love with! I've heard so much about you!" she giggled, sitting in a chair opposite of the couch Sayo sat in. The young girl blinked widely and looked over at Dark for mental answers, but he was busy talking to Daisuke again in the corner, his eyes gliding easily to her to meet her gaze. He gave her a supportive smile and jokingly winked at her, but that didn't make her feel any more comfortable. Sayo turned back to Emiko, unsure of how to answer.

"Uh... he is? Dark never said..." she mumbled, staring down into her lap, fidgeting with her fingers. "H-he's nice, I guess..." Then she suddenly raised her head, dying to ask one question to the woman. "But did you know what your son's been doing the past few months? I mean, since before last month, anyway. He was stealing priceless artifacts and the like from museums. Is Daisuke into that kind of thing? I'd hate to see either of them get into trouble because of it..."

Emiko gazed at Sayo for a moment before smiling gently and shaking her head, a thoughtful expression on her face. "No... I don't believe either of them would get into trouble. They're both smart and resourceful. Besides, Dark was perfectly capable of staying out of trouble." she said fondly, then gave Sayo a tilt of the head, curious now. "Tell me, has Dark told you anything lately? About anything related to him, I mean?"

Sayo thought about it and finally shook her head silently, growing wary of the- in Sayo's mind- ominous words. "No. I don't think so... He told me about his hobbies and stuff, but that's about it. Why? Is there something I should know about, Mrs. Niwa?" she asked. Emiko shook her head just as Dark and Daisuke finally came over to them, with a young woman in a Gothic Lolita maid outfit behind them.

"The tea is done! Would anyone like something to eat as well?" the woman chirped cheerfully. As everyone kindly refused, Sayo stared into her cup of steaming tea, wondering what Emiko had been talking about regarding Dark. Was Sayo missing something? Had Dark not told her something she _should've_ known about him? It made her a bit uneasy to think that the boy who claimed to love her so much was hiding something from her and it only worsened when she thought back to her parents and the day they'd died. But then again, it was a different case then, and she doubted it was anything as serious as _that_. With a shake of her head, Sayo looked up in time to see Daisuke about to tap her shoulder. He blinked, startled for a moment, before standing up quietly and gesturing with his head for her to follow him. She nodded and stood as well, laying her teacup on the table.

"We'll be right back, Mom. I want to show Miss Aisaka the view from my room." Daisuke told his mother, who was busy talking to Dark about the day's events for him. She gave Daisuke a quick nod and the two teens ventured up the steps to Daisuke's room. But Sayo wasn't stupid; the moment she got to the middle of his room, she turned to look at him and crossed her arms stubbornly.

"Okay, what did you want to talk about, Dai?" she asked him firmly, then immediately softened when she saw the gentle look in his eye. "Is something wrong?" she asked again, more gently this time. He shook his head and gestured to his window, which was partly open , and pushed the curtains to the side, revealing the enormous view of the ocean. Sayo gasped lightly in awe and stepped out onto the small balcony, smiling happily at the sight.

"Okay, this is officially the _coolest_ room in the world! You're so lucky, Daisuke!" she laughed softly, gazing around at the darkened sky. Daisuke chuckled gently behind her and he leaned against the railing next to her.

"Dark really _does_ love you, you know..." he said quietly, also gazing up into the sky. Sayo glanced over at him, surprised at his sudden statement. "I know you think he's nothing but a flirt or a womanizer, and maybe he was before... But the moment he saw you, he started acting different. He began to stop leading other girls on, like Ms. Harada, and he couldn't stop thinking about you. Dark's a great guy, when he's given a chance to show it. He's not always obnoxious like you probably think he is." Daisuke gave her a small, fond grin. "Miss Aisaka... Would you give him that chance? He loves you... And there's only one other woman he's ever loved. So he's not that big on true love. Give him a chance and you'll see the kind of person Dark can really be. He'll treat you right and he won't ever, _ever_ hurt you."

Sayo stared at Daisuke in shock; shock that this boy, much much younger than _her_ could say such deep things that almost made her cry in happiness... shocked that she could see just how much he adored and looked up to his older brother from his words alone. She blinked and looked over at the dark blue horizon, going through the options in her mind. She could do exactly what Daisuke just said and give Dark that chance to prove that he was really a great guy, or she could continue being a pessimist and thinking that she'd get hurt by him somehow. She closed her eyes and gently smiled, mentally scolding herself about why she actually had to think it over. Clearly, she was already beginning to see Dark as Daisuke did- a fantastic, caring guy who stayed true to his word, no matter what the situation- and she knew what she wanted.

"Yeah, I think I _will_. Give Dark a chance, I mean. He _is_ nice... and I like being around him..." she said after a few minutes of silence. She glanced back at the sky, then down at her watch, surprised at how fast time went in the Niwa household. She turned to the window leading into Daisuke's room and gave the boy a grin. "I've got to go. I still have home-work to do and stuff." she told him apologetically. Daisuke nodded and began following her back in, and they both nearly crashed into Dark, who laughed softly and kept them from stumbling to the floor.

"I knew I must've shocked you guys, but not enough to make you lose your balance." Dark joked quietly. He looked down at Sayo with his smile. "You okay?" She nodded and he returned it. "Good. I should walk you home; it's getting late and I'm guessing you have homework to do."

Sayo blinked. "You _guessed_ that?"

Dark shook his head, already starting to walk out of the room. "Nah, I actually overheard you saying that to Daisuke."

Sayo laughed and gently punched his shoulder. "Idiot." she said with a smile. They went downstairs and to the front door and nearly made it out, but Emiko caught them quickly.

"Sayo, do come back. I'd love to talk more with you and get to know you better. And I'm sure Dark would like to see you around more, as well." she said gently with the same kind of smile. Sayo smiled back. "Okay? Don't be afraid to come by, no matter the time and no matter what's going on. We're all here for you..."

Many waves and farewells later, Dark and Sayo were finally walking down the street back to Sayo's house.

"Your mom's nice." Sayo commented to keep some conversation going. She didn't want silence to come between them, even if it was comfortable silence. She didn't want to risk thinking things she shouldn't still with Dark and talking distracted her from doing so. Dark chuckled beside her.

"She is for the most part. Sometimes, though, she drives Daisuke up the wall with her eccentricities. But I've been around longer; I deal with it better than him." he said gently. They slowed down as they reached her driveway and stopped under a streetlamp. Dark reached out for her hand and took it, pulling her gently to him. She flushed lightly in the cheeks but let his hands rest on her hips as he leaned down, gazing into her eyes.

"Sayo..." Dark said quietly, bringing a hand up to gently brush his fingers into her hair behind her head. She leaned her head back a bit, her heart racing at the intimacy, but didn't pull back. She didn't want to this time; she wanted to let whatever happen _happen_. "Sayo, I love you..."

And then Dark's lips were on hers sweetly, his arm circling her waist to pull her against him, and his fingers snaking into her hair more, which made her go on her tiptoes and wrap her arms around his neck, deepening their kiss into a passionate embrace. It lasted for an eternity, or so it seemed to her, but finally, they broke apart and simply gazed at each other as they lightly panted for breath. He grinned slightly to her and chuckled, laying his forehead on hers, and she blushed more, still dizzy from the breath-taking kiss.

"Have I stolen my maiden's heart so soon?" he asked playfully with a seductive purr. Sayo smirked and shook her head, slowly pushing away from his arms. He let her go and swept her bangs out of her eyes in order to get a better look into the amber hues he loved so much.

"Don't count on it, Dark. You've still got a little bit more to go before you've completely taken over my mind." she told him, turning to walk to her driveway. As she did, she heard Dark chuckle behind her and a quick but short gust of wind as the laughter echoed along with his final words to her of the night.

"I look forward to going the rest of the way, then."

Sayo chuckled quietly in amusement and shook her head, starting to push open the gate leading into her private driveway, but stopped when she heard hushed voices and rustling coming from large bushes near the left of her. She paused and glanced over, her eyes widening in shock and dismay as pink hair and a glint off a camera lens came into view. Mikki and Ichijo stood in front of her, Mikki looking horrified and hurt, and Ichijo looking completely shocked and angry.

"I _knew_ you had some sort of connection to Phantom Dark..." Ichijo hissed, holding her camera up as if to take Sayo's picture. But Sayo only shook her head, her gaze holding more on Mikki, who looked like she was going to cry.

"Sayo... how _could_ you...?" she whispered, a hint of anger in her betrayed tone. Sayo shook her head again, not sure of what to say or do.

"_Shit_."


	10. Chapter 9

"Look, guys, I can explain that back there-" Sayo started, but Ichijo scoffed and rolled her eyes incredulously at the girl while Mikki merely stared at her best friend with dismay.

"Explain, _shmuplain_!" Ichijo snapped, still holding her old-school camera up to Sayo. "I saw everything! You were totally sucking face with Phantom Dark, Sayo Aisaka! Admit it- you're the one who made Dark stop his thieving, aren't you? In exchange for the hopes of steamy things, too, am I right?"

Sayo's eyes widened more at the seemingly random accusation, but felt her face flush scarlet nonetheless. She clenched her hands tightly and shook her head, wanting to speak and clear the air already. "No, that's not it, Ichijo! Dark stopped doing that on his own actions; I had nothing to do with it! H-he likes me- for reasons I don't and probably never _will_ understand, might I add- and he said that he stopped it to spend more time with me...! That's all!"

Mikki made a sound that was between a choked back sob and a scoff of her own, her hands up to her chest with betrayed confusion. "So you _do_ know Phantom Dark? Why didn't you ever tell me? You always told me that you didn't like him; that you thought he wasn't anything but a creep for constantly hitting on girls without any reason to continue after them! How could you do this to me, Sayo, after all the times I told you that I liked him? I thought we were friends!"

Mikki's words stung Sayo deeply in the chest, and suddenly, hot tears sprang into her eyes, burning the corners harshly as she shook her head weakly and tried to speak. But the words she wanted to say- that she had no idea that she'd ever learn what a great boy he really was and that she never expected to feel so strongly for him so quickly- wouldn't come out. Instead, gasps of air and quiet, broken stammers escaped her and it only made Ichijo look more disgusted and Mikki more hurt. She was cornered. She couldn't seem to tell her friends that it was all a big misunderstanding, and even if she did, they'd _never_ believe her! After all, they had just seen Sayo _kissing_ Dark to the point where they'd pretty much _had_ sucked each other faces, as Ichijo had been oh so polite to scream out seconds ago. She didn't know what to say or do; she was stuck in the middle of an argument she couldn't dream of getting out of...

"So you _admit_ that you've known all along why Dark's been gone, are you?" Ichijo demanded, already have taken out a pad and pen, scribbling notes into it now as she continued pounding questions into Sayo's already guilty mind. "Did you do it for the sheer pleasure of watching other girls around you become envious of that mysterious someone who'd been keeping Dark to themselves? Or was it simply because you like hurting your best friend since third grade?"

Sayo shook her head firmly, looking over at Mikki, who was silently crying. "No, I _swear_, it was _nothing_ like that, Mikki! You know I'd never do anything to hurt you; you _are_ my best friend!" she insisted furiously, stepping closer to them. But Mikki only stepped away, hiding behind Ichijo's shoulder a bit. Sayo deflated at that, mentally hitting herself for thinking the pink-haired girl would actually believe her, after finding out that she'd been lying for the last few weeks. Sayo then turned to Ichijo, anger and determination in her amber eyes.

"Ichijo, I'm telling the truth. I never thought whatever's going on between me and Dark was ever going to happen." she repeated firmly, an idea forming in her head just as the photographer rolled her eyes in frustration and continued scribbling in her notepad. "Look, if you don't believe me, then come back tomorrow. I promise that Dark will be here and he'll clear everything up for you two. I didn't tell you about me knowing him the way you were thinking because I didn't want anything to happen to him. It wasn't because I wanted to or anything-"

"Save it." Ichijo growled, holding a hand up to stop Sayo's mindless ramblings. "Right now, I don't believe you as far as I can throw you. But as a reporter _and_ photographer, I aim for the truth and if _you_ say that Dark will give us the so-called truth- if it's not what you claim already- then I'll see for myself. A professional report never backs down from a job, and _this_ one will be a doozy!" She turned to Mikki, consoling the girl with a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Will you come with me? Or do you want to lose Sayo as your best friend forever? It's up to you., hun."

Sayo felt a tiny bit of hope well up in her chest at the reporter's soft words, hoping against all hopes that Mikki would agree and come along the next night to meet Dark for herself and then Sayo could have her best friend back and pretend like this fight hadn't happened at all. Mikki glanced up between Ichijo and Sayo, her green eyes- which were normally bright and chipper- glinting sadly and dully in the odd mix of moonlight and artificial light from the streetlamp. Finally, she looked down and nodded a bit.

"I'll come..." she said quietly, her words choked by emotions. Then she suddenly turned around and began walking down the street to, Sayo assumed, her and Ichijo's houses. Sayo smiled in relief and nodded her silent thanks to the other girl, but doubled back a bit when she met a cold stare.

"You'd better deliver the goods, Aisaka." she warned quietly, her tone low and hard. "Because if you _don't_, not only will you lose your best friend, but you'll also be hated by every person in Azumano High. And you can bet that it'd last until our fiftieth high school reunion. And that's only if you're _lucky_." Without another hissed word, Ichijo spun on her heel then and stalked down the sidewalk, her and Mikki's figures retreating until they were nothing but tiny black dots. Sayo let out a breath- one she didn't realize she was holding- and turned to her driveway leading into her house, a hand on her forehead in numb confusion. Would Dark really help Sayo like she claimed he would? Of course he would; he'd do anything for her and if he wanted to keep seeing her _alive_, he'd tell Mikki and Ichijo the _real_ story. _Then_ Sayo wouldn't be hated by Mikki and Ichijo wouldn't have a reason to reveal a story about her and Dark that couldn't be less true.

She shook her head, pushing open the gate slowly and closing it behind her, suddenly drained. _Steamy things_, as Ichijo had put it. Right. Like Sayo would let Dark do that kind of stuff with her. She blushed, realizing that it could with how she was starting to feel toward the ex-Thief. She shook her head, more venomously this time, and cleared those horrid thoughts out of her mind as she finally got inside and headed up to her room for a good night's sleep. She just had to go through a long, _long_ day of school then another two or three hours and Mikki wouldn't hate her anymore.

* * *

He didn't know why, but almost the instant Dark arrived at Daisuke's, he felt sick to his stomach. His chest was tightening in excruciating pain, his breath was quick puffs and he felt like throwing up. There was no reasoning for it to suddenly happen; it just _did_. Dark leaned against the wall of his bedroom, trying to be quiet as the Niwa's had gone to bed for the night, and slid to the floor, hand clutching his dress shirt where his heart was. Sweat trickled down his forehead to cross paths with the sweat on his neck, and he stared up at the ceiling, wondering what was suddenly so wrong with him.

Another burst of pain snapped crackled through his chest, spreading through his whole body, and, as quietly as possible, he groaned and leaned forward as if that would help with the pain. He took short, deep breaths, hoping the fresh air coming from his window would cause the pain to numb a bit and become at least a bit more bearable, but it only made it worse, twisting inside and recoiling around itself until there was a large knot of aching pain. If he was able to crack a joke at his own expense, Dark would probably compare it to the pain of changing back into Daisuke, but ten million times _much_ worse.

Slowly, Dark stood up and left his room to go into the bathroom, thinking some cool water on his face would help soothe the ache in his chest and head. He silently closed the door and flicked on the light, the sudden change in lighting momentarily blinding him, but his amethyst eyes quickly adjusted to the brightness, and he turned on the sink taps, allowing the cold water to chill more. He leaned against the counter, glancing up to see his reflection, and gasped sharply in mild fright when he saw his eyes change color, only for an instant, to hard gold then back to the pained deep purple.

He shuddered, not bothering to wait for the water to become any colder, as he cupped his hands under the faucet and splashed his whole face, hair and all, with the cold liquid. A shiver went up his spine from the chill, but otherwise, the pain in his body started retreating, as if afraid of the temperature. Dark splashed another handful of water onto his face, rubbing it into his skin, then turned the tap off and reached for the towel beside him. He jolted when he felt a warm hand brush against his fingers and when he looked up, he saw Emiko and Daisuke looking back at him with concern in their eyes.

"If you had to use the washroom, you could've waited another few seconds, you know." Dark tried to joke, managing a tiny smile. But neither of the Niwa's smiled back or laughed with him at his poorly-made joke. They only watched him, the concern growing deeper.

"Dark.. you're not well, are you?" Emiko asked gently, sounding worried. Dark shook his head reassuringly at the woman, smiling a bit at her. But before he could speak, she bit her bottom lip. "I _knew_ that Soul Displacement ritual had a few flaws... Oh, I'm _so _sorry, Dark. I didn't think it would become like this so suddenly." She turned to walk out of the bathroom, talking to herself out loud now. "I'd better get Dad up and start looking through the books... This is terrible."

Dark blinked as Emiko's murmurs finally trailed off as she went to Daiki's room, and Daisuke sighed heavily. The red head didn't seem as worried as Emiko, but Dark knew the concern was just the same nonetheless. Daisuke scratched the back of his head, looking up at Dark, and the ex-Thief did the same.

"You shouldn't try to hide your pain, you know, Dark. It gets Mom worried even more." Daisuke advised, but with a grin. "By the way, have you told Miss Aisaka about yourself yet?"

Dark shook his head, taking a deep breath to calm his still-racing heart down, and glanced up to look out the small window that showed the this, silver clouds passing in front of the pale full moon, his mind wandering to their kiss near her house hours before. With the way things were turning out with her, and his guess that this wasn't the last of the mysterious pain in his chest, he'd have to tell Sayo about his true self _soon_, or else disastrous things would probably happen. Dark looked back down at Daisuke, who shrugged helplessly and turned to the doorway.

"Well, you'd better, Dark. Sacred Maiden or not, I doubt Miss Aisaka will understand the reason you're delaying telling her the truth. Something tells me that she'd take it harder than you'd think she would." he said with a heavy sigh, then disappeared around the corner, obviously going back to bed. But Dark nodded to himself, agreeing silently with Daisuke as a small shiver went through his back at the thought.

'Soon... Very soon.' he thought with finality before hanging the small towel back on the rack and walking out of the bathroom.


	11. Chapter 10

It wasn't surprising that Sayo didn't sleep very well or much that night. Even after a long, soothing bubble bath, cup of tea and reading a chapter of her novel, every time she closed her eyes in an attemption for sleep, she kept seeing Mikki's betrayed look and the disgusted glance Ichijo had given her. And, just for a change of emotion, she then remembered how it'd felt to kiss Dark; how udderly passionate and warm his lips had been against hers, yet still prepared to pull back at a moment's notice if she didn't feel comfortable. Somehow, thinking about the kiss with him only made Sayo's heart drop more heavily in guilt, like it was something she had been forbade to do wordlessly by Mikki.

And of course, when Sayo _did_ finally manage to slip into an uneasy sleep, she wound up dreaming of the only thing she hadn't thought of in almost eight years. The only thing that kept her from giving into her bursting feelings for Dark and made her instinctively and instantly defensive when she thought someone was trying to get closer to her, like Dark. Sayo's dream was every bit as vivid as it'd been all those years before, down to the intricate details of the worn out photo she still kept hidden in her sock drawer.

The dream of when her whole life shattered and made her the way she was now.

In Sayo's dream-like memory, she was eight years old in the living room of her aunt and uncle's house, watching some girly anime she had long since ignored as she eavesdropped on Hitomi's phone conversation. She'd always remembered the quietly peppy woman as a doting aunt and loving wife and sister who was always happy to listen to Sayo's immature rants about the boys at school and how they constant teased her, always making grossed faces when Hitomi lightly suggested that the boys merely liked her. And even though her aunt spoke softly, there was constantly a happy-go-lucky edge to her words. But at that moment- with Hitomi on the phone, only feet away from Sayo- she sounded grief-stricken and her voice faltered a lot.

"A-are you quite c-certain...? I mean, p-perhaps they m-mistook Shiori f-for anoth-" She paused, listening to whoever was on the other side of the conversation. Sayo had turned completely around by then, watching the woman from the couch in curiosity. Her uncle, short but twig-skinny Uncle Kira, looked pale and defeated, his shaggy black hair sticking out against his white face.

"Y-yes, I understand t-that..." Hitomi replied to the other line finally, dabbing the corners of her eyes with a crumpled piece of paper towel, sniffing quietly. "If y-you're one million p-percent positive... I s-suppose there's n-not much else to d-do than..." she trailed off for a second to let out a quick hiccough, making Sayo worried enough finally to slide off the couch and go to her aunt, putting a soothing hand on the woman's hand that held the towel.

Hitomi gave her niece a water smile, then returned to the phone. "A-alright then... This'll be d-difficult to explain to her d-daughter, but I'll f-find a way somehow. T-thank you, officer... I-I appreciate the call..."

Then Hitomi hung up, placing the cordless onto the table and proceeded to bury her face onto her hands, her shoulders lurching as muffled sobs came out of her. Kira frowned sadly and reached out, gently patting his wife on the back. Sayo glanced between the two adults, wondering what had happened.

"Are Mama and Daddy going to be late coming home?" she asked, thinking there'd been an accident at the airport her parents were supposed to be at to get back to Japan. But with Sayo's innocent question, Hitomi began to sob more, shaking her head as much as she could through her tears. That's when Kira let out a small, upset sigh and turned to look Sayo in her deer-like, amber eyes.

"Sweetheart, I'm afraid your parents won't be coming home at all..." he told her, his voice soft and just as sad as Hitomi's on the phone, but calmer. At first, Sayo didn't understand what he meant, but as the clues added up in her head- Hitomi's tone of voice and conversation then Kira;s words- she realized what he meant and she slowly shook her head in disbelief.

"They're... dead...?" she whispered, already feeling the build up of tears in her eyes. "M-Mama... Daddy...?" But they were supposed to come home for Christmas..."

Kira glanced over to Hitomi at that moment, his expression grim but determined. She seemed to understand what he was saying with his eyes and she jerked her head side to side in shock.

"N-no! Kira, you can't be serious! We'll tell her another time; _this_ isn't a good one. I don't want to overwhelm her with so much so quickly!" she protested, stubbornness in her words. Sayo blinked back her tears, now curious again at what her aunt was talking about. Whatever it was, she was sure she'd be able to handle it- for an eight year old, Sayo was very mature, like a fourteen year old.

"Tell me." Sayo said firmly, sounding demanding. Hitomi and Kira looked over at her, their eyes wide as if they'd just heard their niece speak Latin perfectly, and after a long moment's silence and hesitation, Hitomi looked down to her damp paper towel, fingers habitually shredding it into bits.

"Honey... it's hard to explain, really... And I don't think it'll help after hearing they died in a place crash on the way here."

That only made Sayo more adamant to find out, of course, and she straightened herself to her full height. "You can just tell me, Auntie. I can take it. 'Member hot I did with that birds and bees talk? After _that_, I know I can handle anything else. Just give it to me straight."

After another long moment of silent hesitation, Kira cleared his throat and faced Sayo. But at the time, She didn't realize just how heavy the real, hard truth would affect her or how she'd remember Shiori and Matsuda in the future afterward. At the time, she simply thought she was, for at least a few minutes, finally being treated like a grown up. It made her feel important and proud...

"Sayo... the truth is that the adults you think are your blood parents... Well, they actually aren't." Kira told her, still quiet and gentle. The instant his words registered, she swore she felt her heart give out for a second from the devastating confession. She she didn't show the bitter and dismayed betrayal she felt inside. Instead, she composed herself to look almost bored.

"Really? So I'm adopted?" she asked, half surprised and half sad at how casual she sounded. Looking taken aback by her apparent blasè additude, Kira wordlessly nodded. Sayo shoved her shaking hands into the pockets of her dark pink cargo skirt, nodding as if she understood well.

"Will I be staying with you and Auntie now, then?" she asked, receiving a single nod from both adults. She returned it and turned on her heels toward the front door.

"S-Sayo, where are you going...? Don't leave, please! We wanted to tell you when we thought was better; we didn't want to hurt you!" Hitomi exclaimed, obviously thinking that she was leaving to hurt herself or something. She paused at the front door, sneakers on and sweater zipped up, and gave the woman a smile.

"I'm just gonna grab some overnight stuff. That's all. I'll be fine; don't worry." she assured them and before they could argue or reply, Sayo shut the door behind her and was already racing for the huge mansion down the street. Once inside, she grabbed the closest breakable thing and threw it hard against the wall opposite her, content with the sound of the fragile glass smashing into tiny, tiny pieces. She did it again, and again, until she finally came to a halt, panting heavily in her mash of emotions. Somehow, Sayo ended up in her bedroom, the picture of her and her -supposedly biological- parents with the koi fish in her hands, ready to rip it into shreds.

But she just couldn't find the strength to destroy the last thing she had of people who'd raised her from birth. She sat heavily on her bed, feeling like she'd been ripped away from something she had known all her life, tears finally rolling down her cheeks and burning her numb skin.

All she could think was, after all the things she'd done with her parents, after all the years spent together, they'd never once told her the truth. Every time she heard people praise them at parties for having such a beautiful and polite daughter, they didn't say that she really wasn't their daughter. They had simply lied to her for eight years, pretending to care about her and let her think she had a family, when in reality, she was just living a lie...

Staring down at her seven year old self in the photo grinning between the two adults in the picture, Sayo then decided that she would never let anyone get closer to her, or let herself open her heart to them in return. That way, she wouldn't have to get hurt this badly ever again and risk losing precious people when they decided to leave her.

With a jolt, Sayo woke from her flashback dream, gasping loudly for breath, and remembered the childish vow and how she kept it for the last ten years. Tears sprang up as she thought back to Dark, who loved her and had stopped stealing to be with her.

It was time she broke her vow, and when she was alone with Dark next, she'd tell him about her still painful past, finally letting someone inside her life intimately for the first time in ten years.


	12. Chapter 11

"You'd better have the goods for tonight, Aisaka, or lots of people are gonna suddenly be added to your enemy list."

Sayo blinked and glanced over at Ichijo the next morning during their first break. For a moment, she was confused; what was she talking about? And since when did she sound like some old New York ace detective or whatever? But then it dawned on her, remembering- after surprisingly forgetting all about it between last night and by the time she got to school- how she needed Dark to explain her relationship with him so that she still had a best friend and she wouldn't be humiliated in the school paper.

Sayo frowned and turned away, trying to concentrate hard on the paper she'd been doodling on for the past half hour. She _looked_ annoyed, but in reality, she was a nervous wreak, frantic about the evening to come and hoping to God that Dark was going to show up again. She thought about asking Daisuke to tell his brother to do so that morning at the train stop, but she hadn't run into the little red head, so she was forced to wonder for the next few hours.

"Listen, there's no point in bugging me about the issue, Class Rep," Sayo said in an annoyed breath, tapping the end of her pencil against her desk. Even though she was silent, she knew that Mikki was listening to their every word right beside Sayo. "You'll end up finding out if I'm telling the truth- which I _am_, by the way, just though I'd let you know that- tonight when Dark comes by my house. Until _then_, drop the topic."

Ichijo leaned closer toward Sayo, her brown eyes narrowing slowly as she did, and gave Sayo an accusing stare. "As of last night at approximately ten forty-seven p.m., which is the time I watched you kiss Phantom Dark underneath that streetlight, I have begun wondering if I have any reason to believe a word you've ever told me and our fellow classmates." she said in a careful voice, her tone low and spooky. "After all, no one in this class or school can say they know anything about you other than what we could find in your student file. Who's to say your real name really _is_ Sayo Aisaka? For all we know, you could be a Russian spy sent here to find out Japan's secret weapon and reveal the technology to your home country."

Sayo scoffed, rolling her eyes in irritated astonishment. "Ichijo, you're completely retarded, you know that? Just because I don't socialize like normal teen girls, doesn't mean I'm some evil person." She gestured beside her to Mikki, who seemed to be absorbed by her textbook, eyes scanning the mathematical figures deeply. "Hell, if you wanna know anything about me, just ask Mikki. She's been my best friend since third grade, for crying out loud. And if you don't believe _her_, then you're just a sad little girl in my eyes."

Just like that, Ichijo was turned toward Mikki, jolting the pinkette out of her trance, and pestering her with questions on Sayo and her background. For once, Mikki didn't look that chipper and peppy, like usual. Today, she looked deflated, like someone had poked a tiny hole into her and she was slowly but surely starting to sink into a pile of Mikki-nothingness. Sayo bit her bottom lip at that, knowing that she and last night with Dark was the cause for her friend's troubled nature. Sayo forced herself to look away, closing her eyes to hold back the tears threatening to pool into them and escape. In all the years and friends Sayo had been through with Mikki, not once had she done anything to make the pinkette so upset. Even when Mikki suddenly declared that she was 'in love' with Phantom Dark and Sayo had rolled her eyes and started to list off the reasons no girl in their right minds should ever consider Dark as a potential boyfriend. Ever since that day in their last year of junior high, Sayo and Mikki always had a friendly bicker about the pros and cons of the thief and after a long while, Mikki finally relented and accepted that Sayo would never see Dark the way Mikki did.

Which was why, seeing her and Dark kissing like she had, Mikki looked so depressed. Sayo knew the exactly feelings her best friend was having and it only made her feel worse about it all. Half of her wished she could turn back the clock just so this wouldn't happen, but the other half, the half that had made the mature self-promise to tell Dark the truth about why she acted the way she had with him in the beginning... Well, that part of her wouldn't want to trade the previous night for anything, bad happenings and all. She knew it was rather cruel and selfish, but she also knew that she deserved something good, other than having a great best friend like Mikki, in her life. And having those things would have hurdles to go over, of course, but she could handle it as long as she was happy with what she was doing.

After a few minutes of soul-searching questions from Ichijo, the class rep spun back around to give Sayo the same accusing stare she'd given before. Sayo stared back, blank-faced and hiding her true feelings. Then the photographer let out a heavy sigh and gave a casual shrug, pushing her chair closer to her own desk.

"Fine, you win. Maybe you _aren't_ an evil spy come to destroy the planet, but I'm still depending on Phantom Dark tonight to give me the _real_ scoop on the both of you." she declared finally, not sounding the least bit defeated by it. Inwardly, Sayo sighed in relief, but she raised a single eyebrow to the girl, as if to say, 'And I should be surprised you actually realize this... Why'.

"I told you, didn't I?" she said with a deep sigh, shuffling her papers on her desk, ready to put them away and take out her next class textbook. "Dark will tell you anything you want to know. He stopped stealing so he could be with me and I had told him in the beginning that I didn't like him, but he probably knows that _that_ changing already." She looked at Ichijo, who shrugged, as if bored of the dragging subject, and turned in her seat, doing the same as nearly every other student in the class now, the bell indicating third period nearing. Sayo turned to Mikki, hoping to get some sort of smile from the girl before school let out for the day.

"You don't hate me, do you?" Sayo asked Mikki quietly, watching the pinkette look up slowly to her and blink her dulled green eyes. Seconds passed before she finally frowned and shook her head.

"No..." she answered finally, getting a small smile of happiness from Sayo, "But I certainly don't _like_ you at the moment. You didn't tell me what was going on with you and Dark, and never probably never would hadn't it been for last night, right?" She sighed heavily, not waiting for a response. "Anyway, whatever... I don't hate you, Sayo, but you shouldn't have kept this from me like you did... It really hurt and it'll be a long time before I can trust you with things like this again."

Sayo listened and when Mikki finally glanced down at her History textbook she'd taken out for third period, she nodded gently. She raked a hand through her bangs and bit her lip anxiously, turning back around to face the front, slumping a bit in her seat. This was going to be a _looong_ day...

* * *

It was getting worse. Each time Dark doubled over in searing pain from his chest, it continuously got harder and harder to endure with his now-human body. But he always made it through, either from sheer dumb luck or how every time he grabbed his chest in pain, he kept thinking about Sayo and her relaxed smile, he didn't know. But whichever it was that helped him through it, he was certainly grateful for it.

This time, Dark was outside, sitting under a large shaded tree halfway between Daisuke's and Sayo's homes. His forehead was damp with perspiration, his brain hurt as if someone had just falcon-punched him a half dozen times in the same spot for a half hour, and he felt a bit faint. Emiko and the others still hadn't found an explanation for any of it, even with Satoshi helping and uncovering things his father had stashed away. Nothing had been discovered or realized but everyone knew, not by words of mouth but by how Dark's reactions were to the attacks, that if they didn't find something soon, he probably would last much longer.

Dark let out a slow, deep breath, carefully opening his narrow amethyst eyes as the pain from his newest attack dulled into a pain he could handle perfectly. He saw from the area he was in, that if he stood and looked to his right a bit, he could see the glinting, white walls of Azumano High where Sayo was working hard at whatever subject she had. Turn to his left, and he'd be able to see Azumano Junior, Daisuke's school. But he was still too much in shock to stand up at the moment, so instead, he thought back to his kiss with Sayo the previous night, a pleased smile passing his lips like always.

He was glad that she kissed him back; he'd wanted to know what it was like for the longest time and last night, he just couldn't help himself. He could tell that she was slowly but definitely changing her mind about him, and when he saw her that evening, he was going to bring up his offer of her going steady with him. He didn't expect an answer right away; he'd tell her to think it over and take her time, there wasn't any deadline or rush. Just thinking about asking her made Dark smile more, letting him forget the pain thumping in his body for a few minutes as he focused on Sayo's face in his mind.

But once the thought of going steady with her came to him, the thought of needing the right time to tell her the truth about him flashed and it made his smile falter in contemplation. He still didn't know what he was going to do, which was odd, considering he normally knew how to break any type of news to anyone, no matter what they were like. But telling his beloved Sayo that he hadn't been a real human until three months ago oddly made him.. _nervous_. What if she thought he was crazy and decided to return to the way she'd been when they first met? Or she accepted it, but didn't think of him the same way? It was bad enough thinking about telling her everything, but this sudden realization made Dark feel even more queasy.

But, weirdly enough after thinking this and mildly frantic to remain calm and collected and failing, Dark felt good enough to stand, so he did and trailed his gaze over the stretch of land that was Azumano City, pausing to look at Azumano High. He briefly wondered what Sayo was doing and if she was thinking about _him_, then chuckled to himself and turned around, heading back toward the Niwa house, deciding to stay there until it was safe to go to Sayo's.

* * *

**:D Yay! A double chapter! I can't believe I've gotten this far! ^.^ And all the reviews! I haven't gotten so many for one story before! :D Anyway, Dark's certainly getting himself into a lot of trouble by not telling Sayo about the Niwa curse! Tsk-y tsk-y!And now to add the pain he's getting, and he's in a world full of bad news. :( What's gonna happen? Will Dark tell Sayo the truth when he meets her friends? Will Mikki ever forgive Sayo for not telling her? And what about Sayo herself? How will _she_ react when and if Dark tells her his news? Oh, the drama! The sheer drama of it all! Find out in the next chapter! ;D And remember, read and review!  
**


	13. Chapter 12

Sayo breathed out in relief as she headed toward her locker, trying hard not to shoved to the side as students all around her clamored to leave for the short holiday they had due to the school administrator, and saw Mikki at her locker, which was one away from Sayo's. With a deep breath for relaxation and courage, Sayo trudged forward, hoping Mikki was in a better mood from earlier that morning.

"Hey. You're so lucky you don't have Mr. Nattai for Biology. He just gave everyone like, a _ton_ of worksheets to be completed by the time we get back to school." Sayo said brightly, hopping in front of her locker and beside the pink-haired girl. When Mikki didn't give a response, Sayo's gut began to waver; was she still mad about last night and everything? Mikki wasn't known to hold a grudge for very long, but right now, Sayo could beg to differ. Finally, after a few long seconds, Mikki raised her head from whatever she'd been holding in her hands, and looked at Sayo, her expression blank but her eyes getting a bit of their old spark back in anxiety.

"Am I really gonna meet Phantom Dark tonight...?" Mikki asked, her voice painfully small compared to the large, upscale number of students still around and chattering loudly. Sayo blinked, though, and heard the fright and excitement in her friend's words. She smiled warmly and nodded, turning to her locker. After a minute or two of trying to unjam the lock that constantly got stuck on the last number of the combination, Sayo took her outside shoes from the locker and began slipping out of her school shoes.

"You really are." Sayo replied, upbeat and like she wasn't worrying herself about the evening to come in only a few hours' time. She could hear Mikki whine quietly and when she looked up, saw the girl staring hard into her locker, thumbnail in between her teeth and proceeded to be bitten off in fear. Instantly, Sayo panicked. "B-but it's going to be okay, Mikki...! I'm gonna be there and so will Ichijo! You don't have anything to be afraid of; nothing at all! even if Dark tried something- which I'm _sure_ he won't cuz that's how he is- you'll have us to protect you!"

It was then, with complete shock and confusion, that Mikki turned her head, revealing the supposed fear of meet the tall phantom she'd longed to meet for a good few years to actually be excitement and doubled back at it, realizing what she'd assumed her friend was feeling. Mikki's face lit up happily as she smiled widely and let out a small squeal of delight, wriggling around like one of Dark's fan girls (actually, like an older yet somehow _younger_ version of a Miss Risa Harada, in fact).

"_Afraid_? Why would I be afraid of finally being able to meet the one guy I've been _dying_ to meet in years? Sayo, you're so lucky! I wish Dark was interested in _me_!" she giggled out, keeping her voice down for the benefit of the boys and girls trailing out of the building for the day. Then she paused, making Sayo wonder again about what was going through her head at that moment. Mikki's expression turned serious suddenly, leaning closer into Sayo as she raised a hand to cover their mouths as she spoke. "Sayo... you really like Dark, don't you?"

Startled by the severity of the simple question, Sayo had to take a moment to compose herself and remain calm and act oblivious to the beating her heart was taking at the mere mention of her growing feelings for Dark. She never _really_ hated Dark; it was just because of her silly vow as a child that made her keep her distance from him. She had always thought he was good-looking and although she had always heard those rumors that he was after that brown haired girl in Azumano Junior- Sayo remembered it to be something like.. Risa?- and then after some _other_ girls from various grades in the schools, she knew Dark was sincere in his feelings no matter who it was for. He was strong; he was brave (when he was being _stupid_ and sending out warning letters, announcing that he was going to steal something, of course); he was confident and cool; he was simply... Dark.

Sayo gave Mikki a small smile as the rest of her brain finally caught up to how she really felt, and she nodded slightly to the girl, slipping her heavy textbooks into her locker and closing it hard so it would lock properly. "Yeah," she said, sounding lightly surprised, "I do really like Dark..." Her smile began more sheepishly apologetic. "I'm really sorry, Mikki... You know I'd never hurt you on purpose..."

Before Mikki could even begin to _think_ of a response, let alone open her mouth to _say_ it, the loud, energetic shout of Ichijo carried through the hallway to the two girls. They both cringed- Sayo in nervous anticipation and Mikki in pain as her eardrums burst from the cry of their class rep.

"You aren't trying to weasel your way out of this, _are_ you, Aisaka?" the determined brunette exclaimed, coming to a halting stop beside the girl who was grimacing with discouragement, leaning her left elbow sharply onto Sayo's shoulder, leering at her. Sayo tried to make a smile, but ended up looking forced, chuckling weakly.

"No.. 'course not." she said, trailing off quietly as she sighed and picked up her bag, bumping it over one shoulder as the three females made their way out the front doors of their school and toward Sayo's house. The air was silent, each with their thoughts, and Sayo wished someone would speak already. It felt too much like being at a funeral, except no one was dead (yet, if Ichijo had her way) and there was no mourning being done. Just complete silence as they concentrated on the walk and what they were going to discover.

It seemed like forever, but when Sayo saw the top of the large house she called home, she started to feel queasy. What if Dark didn't come by? Ichijo would think the worst of her and Mikki, after the effort Sayo had made all day to keep the friendship between them, would hate her forever and possibly dis-friend her!

Sayo shook her head, throwing those negative thoughts out of her mind, and focused on the few meters that were left to the beginning of her private driveway. It was then that she noticed a tall and slim figure leaning against one of the brick gate sides, their head bowed down a bit and their arms bent as if their hands were stuffed into pockets. They got closer and Sayo's mood lifted more and more until she found herself smiling so much, her cheeks and mouth were hurting from the immense stretching it was doing. She heard Mikki gasped sharply and quietly and when she turned her head to the pinkette, she could see her emerald eyes shining widely and her face go slack in pure shock.

"I-it's him..." Mikki stammered under her breath, glancing over at Sayo to reflect the wide, over-stretched smile. "It's really Phantom Dark... He's really there, Sayo...!"

Sayo nodded, chuckling to herself at the astonishment on her friend's face. She peered over to Ichijo, wondering what her face was showing, and was half surprised, half not, to see that the teen reporter's face was void of any emotions, including surprise and amazement. _She kinda looks like that woman on the news, Kakizaki_, Sayo thought offhandedly. With a shrug, the girls finally made the full walk to the entrance of Sayo's home, standing around Dark, who was now standing straight and smiling gently at Sayo.

"Are these lovely ladies your friends from school?" he asked Sayo in his smooth voice, making Mikki blush the hardest Sayo had ever seen on the pinkette, and nodded, gesturing to them both.

"Dark, this is my best friend Mikki Koyama, and this is our high school's reporter slash photographer Ichijo Minai." she introduced them, then gestured to Dark with a fond grin. "Guys, this is obviously none other than the legendary Phantom Dark... Do you believe me _now_?"

There was a brief pause as everyone let the names sink in and Dark used it to turn to the two girls and give them his signature smirk, bowing his head slightly to them. "It's a pleasure to meet you beautiful girls. I hope I haven't caused any trouble for Sayo, seeing how you must've come to see me to ask me things about her and I." he told them, adding a wink for old time's sake of flirting. He watched as the dark pink-haired girl, Mikki he recalled, turn bright red in her cute heart-shaped face. He could tell from just that that she was one of his many fans. But the other girl, Ichijo, merely blinked at Dark, dead panned like a certain pre-teen with glasses he knew.

"Are you, Phantom Dark, and Miss Sayo Aisaka _really_ involved in a romantic relationship?" she suddenly demanded, her voice hard but her face not once twitching. Dark smiled a bit and peered over at Sayo, who had blanched from the abrupt question from her classmate. He returned his eyes on the brunette and gave her a nod. She nodded back and scribbled something into her notebook, the same one she'd been holding the previous night. After that, she looked back up at Dark, him expecting another ordered question.

"And how long have you two been seeing each other? More or less than three months?" she asked sharply. Dark glanced behind his shoulder to Sayo again, this time trying to figure that one out. Time had been so fast, he actually couldn't remember how long it'd been since he first met Sayo properly. Plus, add in the distracting pains in his chest recently, and he was really stuck on the length of time.

Sayo frowned thoughtfully, also trying to figure it out. She scratched her head lightly and then looked up to Ichijo, albeit with an uncertain glint in her amber eyes. "I think it's almost three months... I can't be sure. Sorry." she told the brunette softly. Dark slipped his arm around her waist then, gently tugging her to his side, and gave her a smile.

"Is there anything else? Or should I go? Seems like you have a study group here." he said quietly, regarding the girls who were silently standing around with Sayo. But she shook her head, putting her fingers through his, much to his mild surprise. He never really expected her to do something so delicate and intimate with him like that, let alone in front of one of her friends who was grilling him about his relationship with her and another who was still staring widely at him in shocked awe.

"I want you to stay. Ichijo and Mikki caught us kissing last night and I uh.. kinda failed to mention that I was sorta.. seeing you... So they totally flipped out and I told them you'd tell 'em that I didn't not tell them on purpose." she explained under her breath so only he could hear. After a beat, he nodded in understanding and faced the girls, flashing his confident smile to them.

"It seems there's been a misunderstanding among you three." he said gently, not once letting go of Sayo. "When Sayo and I started seeing each other, I did in fact ask her to not tell anyone. I didn't put into account that she had friends who would care about her so much that they'd get upset if they found out about it. I merely wanted to keep a low profile, since you and the rest of the city is aware of my stealing, or lack thereof. So, I apologize for anything you may have thought against Sayo. She was only keeping her boyfriend out of trouble with the police."

Silence followed and for a short moment, both Dark and Sayo wondered if the girls would believe him, even though it was ninety percent true. Finally, Ichijo let out a heavy, defeated sighed, shrugging casually like she did back in their first break earlier. She flipped her notebook shut and jammed it into her bookbag along with her pencil, then scratched the back of her head. She glance over at the two, shifting between them both as if examining them closely.

"Fine. You're off the hook, Aisaka. Be lucky that I know Phantom Dark would never lie about something like that. Otherwise, the pic of you sucking face would be all over the school paper by tomorrow morning and the police would be breaking down his door by midnight tonight." she said, waving a hand to Sayo, as if granting permission to continue whatever she'd been doing. Dark smiled, seeing Sayo's shocked face and knowing she couldn't say anything, toward Ichijo.

"I feel safe, knowing that my secret is fine with two fine girls like yourselves. Thank you for keeping it and not revealing my whereabouts to the police." he told her, then added for the hell of it, "How would you like to go on a date in return?"

"Dark!" Sayo exclaimed, holding back a grin, as she elbowed him in the side then, causing him to smile weakly down at her, raising a hand in defeat.

"I was only kidding...! I _promise_, you're the only girl I want to go on dates with." he assured her with a chuckle. She rolled her eyes, shaking her head in feigned defeat, then turned to Mikki, who hadn't spoken since they arrived at her house.

"So? Am I forgiven fully now that you've heard the truth from the horse's mouth?" she asked hopefully, giving Dark's hand a squeeze absently. Mikki beamed, only faltering for a second as Ichijo spun on her heel and began walking away toward her own house, then faced Sayo again with a nod. The blackette beamed back, her heart and chest lifting gaily as she broke free from Dark's arm and glomped Mikki, who laughed like her old self again and grinned. "Thank you! I was so afraid I was going to lose you!" she exclaimed, tears of both happiness and sadness prickling the corners of her eyes.

They pulled back and shared a lopsided grin, Dark behind them just observing the scene with a fond smile aimed at Sayo and her brightened face. Mikki's watched beeped then and she looked down at it, startled by the sound, then gasped sharply. "I'm going to be late getting home!" she squeaked out, reaching over to give Sayo once final tight hug, whispering in her friend's ear, "I'd already forgiven you at our first break, by the way... I was just so busy trying to make sense of everything I couldn't tell you. You'll _always_ be my best friend, Sayo. Promise."

Then the pink-haired girl pulled away and gave Dark a quick, blushing bow of her head before dashing off to catch the last train home. Sayo smiled widely in delight at the turn of events, sighing happily as she turned to face Dark. He was still smiling and when she smiled at him, he chuckled softly and pulled her in for a gentle hug. She wrapped her arms around his chest and let herself drown in his fresh scent and stayed there in his arms for a few long minutes before finally pulling back and raking a hand through her hair. She took a deep breath and held Dark's hand as they made their way up the winding driveway to her house, then turned to look up at him, her heart beating fast at the realization that she was about to reveal her troubling past to the boy she cared for more than anything else in the world.

"Dark, I need to tell you something... It's about when I was younger and it's the main reason why I was so horrible to you in the beginning.." she started, opening the door leading into the large living room. Dark said nothing; he merely followed her into the area and sat on the couch she gestured to, beside her, and waited patiently. She took another deep breath, taking comfort in having his large, warm hand in her small, shaking one.

"It all started when I was eight years old, and at my aunt and uncle's house for a few weeks while my parents were away on a business trip overseas..."


	14. Chapter 13

"So... that's the whole thing." Sayo finished nearly an hour later, taking a gulp of her ice water she ended up needing after almost losing her voice twenty minutes ago. She watched Dark over the rim of her glasses, her legs propped up on the couch between them, gauging his face for how he'd react to her life story. He remained silent, as he had while she told him the truth, until he gave her a gentle smile and reached a hand over to her, causing goosebumps to go over her whole leg as he delicately stroked his thumb over her knee.

"You're more amazing than I thought." he said softly, looking at her through those gorgeously deep amethyst eyes that always made her shiver happily and smile shyly. This time, though, she blinked at him in confusion. He nodded, confirming his comment. "You were so young to lose your parents, even if they _were_ your adopted ones, and for an eight year old, I think you handled it a little better than others that age. And to be so mature by that time already is only more amazing to me. I don't think Dai's stopped being that much of a crybaby from when he was eight." He chuckled then, shaking his head in amusement at the thought of his ex-Tamer being eight and huddled in a corner, crying like a baby. Not that it was true, of course. He wasn't there for those stages of his life.

Sayo lowered her glasses, absently tapping the side with a nail, and regarded Dark in awe and curiosity. He was certainly taking her news well, and she supposed that was good for her, since she didn't want him to think she had been idiotic for having that vow for so long. But no. He was instead being accepting and sweet about it, making her think what she'd done was actually more mature than stupid like she had after thinking about it. She smiled softly then, her love for him growing even more now and deciding that telling him was _definitely_ the best choice.

"So what happened afterward?" Dark suddenly asked, looking at her once again. She blinked widely. "You went back to your aunt and uncle, right? After that vow you made?" he clarified.

"Oh. Well, of course I did. I'm pretty sure I worried them enough by running out like I had and even if they probably _weren't_ my biological relatives, they were still people I hated to make worry. So I went back with my stuff and shut myself into my room for the rest of the night." she told him with a nod, remembering the events a bit. She stared down in her glass, watching the small melted pieces of ice clink together and float away to opposite sides. She frowned and stod up, downing the rest of her water and crunching her ice. "I need more water. My throat still hurts." she muttered, then looked to Dark. "Want anything to drink or eat, Dark? I got plenty of random stuff I don't even really eat myself in the fridge and cupboards."

The tall boy nodded and stood up, following her to the kitchen where a tiny ball of white fuzz was sitting on the counter, mewling softly as they got closer to the island. Sayo went over and petted what seemed to be a very fluffy kitten, murmuring to it gently and taking some fancy-looking cat food out for it. Dark thought for a moment then it dawned on him with an amused smile.

"That's Ai, you cat?" he asked her, nodding to the white now on the floor beside a set of double doors and eating contently. Sayo nodded without glancing at her pet and started rummaging through the shelves of food, trying to find something to eat for them. "Cute thing. Did you get her when you moved in here?"

"Yeah, after I got settled in here, I needed something to take my mind off everything that had happened, so I went to the poundand found her. The poor thing had been abandoned by her owners near the river near the shore. It was such a sin, and I know how ot felt at the time, so I took her. She's been my little rascal since."

Dark chuckled and knelt down to brush a hand through her silky fur, finding Ai's way of eating adorable and instantly falling in love with her, just as he had with her owner. He stood and went over to Sayo, seeing her trying to grab a package of instant noodles; he was about to reach up and get it for her when she suddenly huffed in frustration and jumped onto the countertop, kneling on it as she now easily took the bag and dropped it down next to her. Dark couldn't hold back the chuckle and she looked at him, her own grin on her face.

"_What?_" she asked him, hopping down off the counter and brushing off her red knees. "I know it's funny to see a high school girl in a mini skirt climb up to get something, but that doesn't mean you have clearance to laugh out loud in front of me." She was still grinning, however, making Dark chuckle more and lean over and kiss her gently on the forehead.

"You're a self-effecient girl, Sayo. That's all I'm going to say about that." he said quietly, then pulled back to lean against the kitchen island, his arms crossed casually as Sayo blushed a bit and pretended she wasn't as she began going around, getting the things to make the noodles. He watched her silently for a moment, then decided to ask ehr more questions.

"So how do you manage to pay for this house? You don't have a part-time job, do you?" He didn't remember seeing her ever having to run to any place that had girls her age working there, so he wondered how expensive it was to keep a house of this size running.

"Actually, this is the house I lived in with Mama and Daddy. I found out that they'd paid so much for this house in advance, that it'll be paid for until I'm twenty one, when, by that time, I'll have my trust fund and the money they'd saved for when I turned that age. So I'm set home-wise and money wise. Aunty and Uncle still give me spending money when I need it, even though it's not their responsibility. At least, not any more." She paused when she put the water on the stove, now waiting for it to boil for the pasta. She sat on a stool beside Dark and rested her cheek on her left fist, looking at him. "I stayed with them until I was legal age- eighteen, which was almost a year ago now- when they decided to move to another part of Japan and gave me the choice of going with them or staying here by myself."

Dark nodded, letting her words soak in as he understood why, at that time, she chose to be by herself. It was less risk for her having to let other people in and she didn't want to get hurt again, so she shut herself inside the empty mansion for her own emotional safety. "You chose to stay here when you turned eighteen and you're going to until your tweny-first birthday, right? What are you going to do after that? Any idea what you want to do after school?"

Sayo shook her head, reaching to the floor and picking up Ai, cuddling her into her chest. "Nope. But I'm sure I'll figure something out by the time I need to." she told him, "And what about you? You have to still be in school. How come I never see you with any uniform or books?"

At that moment, Dark's mind went into over-drive, trying to think of somethnig as a good answer for her plain question without seeming to be lying, even though he was. He gave her a smile and shrugged a bit. "I do special classes over the internet on this site. I don't do school settings; not my thing." he told her finally after a quick pause he hoped she didn't notice. But she nodded, accepting his answer, and looked slightly impressed.

"That's cool. I wish _I_ could do that, but I'd die of boredom if I didn't have my friends to hang out with during breaks and lunch, y'know?" she said with a whimsical sigh, chuckling quietly. They fell into a comfortable silent, just enjoying each other's company for the night, and Dark reached out as if to pet Ai on her tail, but instead brushed his fingers against Sayo's hand purposely. She looked up, startled a bit, and met his deep, serious purple eyes, momentarily losing her breath at how mesmerizing they were to her. Dark slowly straightened, leaning toward Sayo until his lips neared hers so much, their breath mingled together into one warm draft. He raised a hand to cup her cheek and she held his dress shirt sleeve in return, inching herself closer to him.

Then he was kissing her, at first the most gentle and softest kiss she'd ever gotten, then it deepened until she found herself standing with her back to the island, almost sitting on it. His hands lowered to her waist, fingers pressing against the smalls of her back firmly to bring her closer to him, and her arms wrapped firmly around his neck, her own fingers tangling into his silky amethyst hair, tugging his mouth harder onto hers. He obliged almost immediately, putting a leg between hers in order to get even closer to her, and parting her lips the tinest bit with his own.

Sayo let out a quiet sigh that Dark knew was from their mild make-out and his kiss. He was about to continue and go farther with the kiss, but Ai meowed at their side and then came the sudden sizzle of water hitting something hot. Tearing herself from the kiss, although Dark knew there was reluctance in her pull away from him, Sayo yelped as she turned the stove down, then dunked the starched noodles into the pot, her face red- either from the heat of the water under her face or from their ended kiss, Dark didn't know. But either way, he could still feel his lips tingling from the intensity they just had, and a burst of pain from his chest, causing him to silently wince and press a hand to his shirt, hoping the pressure would help aleve the pain that he was sadly getting used to.

But just as fast and swift as it had come, the pain ceased, just as Sayo turned to him when she got the water and burner under control, a weak smile on her reddened face. She put a hand through her bangs, making them stick up a bit. Dark smiled back and thought that it made her look cute, having her bangs sticking up all over the place from the humidity. Sayo glanced at him, then away, and he realized that the red on her face wasn't from the heat but from her nervous embarrassment. She brought her bottom lip into her mouth, just as Dark would have done had it not been for the water over-boiling.

"Um... so.. since I've broken my little-kid vow..." Sayo said softly, wrapping her arms under her chest, her eyes on the floor between them. "I was figuring that I should add another thing to help me break it even better."

"What did you have in mind?" Dark asked, catching her hand in his gently. Another blush came to her cheeks, making her look even more red than before. She used her free hand to play with her hair a little before taking a slow, deep breath, which Dark noticed she'd done before telling him about her past. Then she raised her gaze to land on Dark, firm and determined in them.

"Dark, I want to do something that I've never wanted to before because it had involved letting someone in where I wanted to keep from people. But I think I'm finally ready to unlock that part of me and let you in completely." she told him, talking slowly and carefully like if she spoke too fast, her whole world would implode on itself. Dark merely nodded as she added hastily, " 'Course, you don't _have_ to say yes if you don't want to. This is only a suggestion based on what I figure I need and should do about my vow."

"You can ask me _any_thing, Sayo. You know that." he told her softly, smiling loving down at her. She nodded and prepared herself as she took yet another deep breath.

"Dark, will you move in with me?" There was a beat of silence before Sayo started rambling on, face going scarlet now. "I mean, if I'm gonna let people in more now, I thought to expand myself a bit. And I figured since you're the one who made me want to break my vow, I'd ask you to move in with me, seeing as how we _are_ dating and it's apparently common for couples our age to do it like this. But if you don't want to, we can just pretend I said nothing and just eat our noo-"

Dark had kissed her once again, much to her embarrassing shock. When he pulled back, she saw his smirk as he winked lightly to her, tucking some of her loose hair behind her ear. "Yo're beyond cute when you blush and get embarrassed like that," he told her with a faint chuckle. "And of course. I'd be honored to move in with you, my Sacred Maiden."

And then they kissed again, this time showing their absolute love, devotion and all-around happiness for each other, completly ignoring the noodles as the water began to bubble over the edges again and hit the burner.

* * *

**xD Another double chapter! And yes, I _had_ to add a random mack-out scene for Sayo and Dark; I couldn't resist! Dark deserves it since he's going through all this crap! lol So, now that Sayo's told Dark the truth about her past and all and he's moving in with her, will she find out about his mysterious pain? Or will he keep it a secret from ehr along with _his_ past? Who knows; only time will tell! And the next chapter, of course :D So, be on the prowl for the next installment of Against Fate! ^.^ And like always, read and review!**


	15. Chapter 14

Nearly a month had passed since Dark officially moved into Sayo's, and not only were they glad they had done it, but the city was starting to talk about Dark's sudden appearance as not the Phantom Thief, but as a normal citizen of Azumano City. It made their nightly walk around town much easier to do since people stopped staring at them, trying to figure out if he really was the Phantom Thief. But just as everything was starting to fall into a small, cozy routine, there was the small disconcerting matter of Dark's pains, which had gotten worse by each one. They came about randomly, still, but he found it harder and harder to walk away from it without looking sick. Daisuke's parents still couldn't seem to find an answer for it, even after so much searching and indexing and after so much time, but they remained determined to find the cause and cure so that he could continue on with Sayo, who was none the wiser to everything.

Until one evening when they were about to get ready to watch a rented movie in the living room. Sayo had been babbling on about something from school that afternoon to Dark while making some extra-buttery popcorn- a favorite of theirs- in the kitchen. He was leaning against the island, his arms crossed over his royal blue dress shirt, and smiling at her fondly.

"So, after Mr. Rikki comes in and tells Makoto to shut up and sit down, he ends up slipping that we're going to be getting off early on Tuesday and the school's closing for a few weeks for something that no one really cared much about." She looked over her shoulder and gave Dark a grin. "I mean, we may be nearly adults, but _no_body can resist a good, long holiday, y'know? Course, being _him_, Sir had to threaten us with not letting us off the same time on Tuesday if Makoto kept falling asleep in his seat. Before I knew it, two of his friends had reached over and _smack_! They totally hit him on the back of his head hard enough that it seemed to make this really hilarious hollow sound. It was _so_ funny, I'm tellin' you!"

Dark chuckled softly, standing up as Sayo put the finishing touches on the popcorn, then took a few pieces of the snack and brought half of it to his mouth, eating them, and the rest to Sayo's. She blushed, as she still did whenever he made an innocently intimate gesture like that, but ate them anyway, grinning up at him. They began to walk into the living room, where the DVD had already been put into the player and was set to be turned on, and Dark couldn't help but brush some of Sayo's hair behind her shoulder, once again unable to resist the urge to touch her beautiful silken hair. She glanced over to him, gave him a shy smile that let him know she enjoyed it, and laid the popcorn onto the table next to the side of the couch she'd be sitting on.

"So you've never seen this movie yet, right? 'Cuz it's a really good movie unless you've already seen it." she asked him as she took the DVD remote to get everything set. Dark shook his head and sat beside her, a tingle of discomfort starting to make its way through his chest and spreading all over his body. But he ignored it, and only a single twitch of her fingertips showed the pain that was intensifying in him.

"No, I haven't. I never really watched movies before, as you know, because of the whole Phantom Thief thing." he told her smoothly, sending her a playful smirk as he rested his right arm behind her head on the couch. "But now, I'll enjoy watching them with my Sacred Maiden and getting to know your favorite movies."

With an embarrassed smile and blush, Sayo stood up once more and lightly hit her temple in a sign of having forgotten something. "I need a drink. Want anything?" she asked and when Dark shook his head, she shrugged and spun around, her flowing red skirt twisting from the movement as she went back inside the kitchen. When she did, she narrowly missed Dark suddenly lurch forward, his face mashed into a look of agony as he grabbed at his chest tightly again and tried to keep silent so that he didn't alert Sayo. He grunted softly, scowling hatingly at the pain he was in, then managed to pull himself up the stairs and toward the nearest bathroom, barely able to shut the door behind him as he immediately leaned over the sink, water running to mask the sound of him throwing up.

Meanwhile, down in the kitchen and completely oblivious to what was going on upstairs, Sayo was humming happily to herself and rummaging around her fridge for a bottle of pop to pour into a glass of ice already on the counter. She pushed aside the carton of half-used milk and the bag of vegetables she bought the previous morning to use in stew for tomorrow night and glanced around. There didn't seem to be any left.

Leaning back out of the fridge and standing to look around the kitchen to see if she'd placed it elsewhere and simply forgot, Sayo scratched her head gently and somehow got to thinking about the room upstairs at the end of the hallway with the scratched up door. She remember how she had entered her parent's room a few minutes after making her vow and looking around. It had seemed so peaceful, so normal, so... not the way she saw her two parents anymore. Without a second thought about it, Sayo suddenly started to smash everything she could see, even tossing the comforter that had calmed her during thunderstorms at five onto the floor with the matching pillows. At the time, it had felt so right to do it, as if she was creating a physical version of just how twisted her state was then, but _now_... Sayo wanted to clean it up and revert it to the old room she had seen so neatly done before. And with Dark here now, she had a very good reason for doing it even more- turn it into his new bedroom since they'd finished moving his things into a spare room just earlier that day and as much as Sayo loved him, she couldn't picture sleeping in the same bed as him without blushing darkly and trying to shake the thought away. It would be too much too soon for her and he's understand when she told him.

Sighing heavily when she still couldn't find the soda, she re-entered the living room and blinked when she saw Dark was gone. She frowned in thought, assuming he'd gone to the washroom or something, and decided to sit down and munch out on the popcorn until he came back. Almost fifteen minutes later, she got up and ventured up the stairs, wondering what was keeping him so long. She paused down the hallway, seeing the half closed bathroom door with its light on.

"Dark? Are you okay in there?" she called out, sounding a bit worried. What she heard in reply was a muffled sound, like a cough or something, and figured he was coming down with a cold until she heard the hacking slash that didn't sound good. She made to the bathroom quickly, pushing open the door just to stop and stare with wide eyes at the sight in front of her.

Dark was slightly leaning against the wall right next to the sink, his face pale and clammy-looking. He had one hand gripping the sink tightly, knuckles ghostly white, and his other clutching painfully to his chest, wheezing and coughing harshly. He looked up when Sayo came in, one eye cracked open to show the distress from his intense attack.

"S-Sayo..." he said quietly, his words low and mildly surprised. She let out a faint whimper of fear as she went over to him and took a fleeting glance at the red stained insides of the sink then reached out and put her arms around his chest, trying to pull him upward. He gave her a weak version of his usually cocky smirk. "I know you're a very strong girl and all, but I somehow can't see you lifting me up. You should leave the heavy lifting to me."

Sayo shot him a small glare, clearly not amused by his failed joke. "And _I_ somehow can't see how you can even _attempt_ to make jokes when you're in pain! This isn't even _close_ to a laughing matter, Dark! You coughed up _blood_, for crying out loud! You're not well!" she ground out, still trying to stand him up. The best she managed was to lean him more against the sink as he chuckled softly and coughed again, spitting out a bit of scarlet blood into the sink.

"I'm fine, Sayo... Don't worry about me. This is _nothing_ compared to what I endured before I met you..." he told her quietly, looking down into her stubborn set eyes. She didn't budge, which he was expecting because that's _just_ how she was, and he chuckled softly once more. "I'm happy to see you so worked up over something so silly like this. Makes me realize that being human was worth it..."

Sayo stared hard at him, unsure of what he was talking about now, as she sighed deeply and shook her head, grabbing a nearby cloth and running cold water over it to wipe the blood trickling down Dark's mouth. Just as she finished, Dark gently took her wrist and pushed it away, leaning down so his lips brushed over hers softly. But he didn't go any further and neither did Sayo have the confidence to at the moment. Finally, after a few seconds, Dark pulled back slightly and instead rested his forehead against her shoulder, closing his eyes wearily.

"Just... stay here with me... Please..."

* * *

"I think I found it..."

Three heads shot up in shock at the same time, all of their eyes on the woman who'd spoken so suddenly. She blinked wide-eyed at it, as if not able to believe that she'd finally found what they'd all been looking for over the past two months. She smiled gleefully and picked up the book, holding it up for all to see.

"I found it!" Emiko squealed, clutching it close to her chest excitedly. Towa, at a table a few feet away, gasped and smile brightly, rushing over to her mistress to see the book, as well did Daisuke and Daiki. Emiko nodded confirmingly and pointing a slender finger to the pages. "It says here that there's a book about the Hikari's artworks and majorly, about the Black Wings. But," she hesitated, peering at the words in disappointment. "It doesn't say what happened exactly. Only that there's a book about the Black Wings in a Hikari family book and something that had occurred when the artwork had just been created, before it got sealed away."

Everyone heaved a large, collective sigh of shared grief for the piece of missing information, but suddenly, Daisuke let out a gasp, causing his family to stare at him in confusion. He smiled slightly and nodded.

"Of course! Why didn't I think of it in the first place?" he exclaimed to himself before running upstairs from the basement and going to the phone. He paused to glance at the time and smiled more as he began dialing the semi-familiar number. A few rings later, and he heard the low, icy voice of his classmate and friend, Satoshi Hiwatari.

"Hi Hiwatari, I know it must been pretty late now to call, but I have something _really_ important to ask you." Daisuke greeted his friend cheerfully, hoping that his chipper mood would make the Chief Commander more sharing.

_"It's no bother. I was about to phone you, actually."_ Satoshi replied, still speaking in his monotone. Before Daisuke could reply, he went on, as he always did to get to the point. _"I was looking through some books of my father's on my family and their creations when I stumbled upon something I think you'd find interesting, Niwa. I won't tell you right now, but if you'd like, I can come by in ten minutes so that the others can see it as well. Unless... I shouldn't or can't?"_

Daisuke shook his head, realized the blue-haired boy couldn't see it, and laughed softly. "No! Mom won't mind at all! Come on over then! Thanks so much, Hiwatari. This is really important to us." he said happily, his heart doing somersaults and cartwheels in delight. He hoped it was a book explaining what was going on with Dark and how to stop it, if at all.

_"Alright then. I'll be there in ten minutes."_ Satoshi said with what sounded to be amusement as he added, _"So, what's this I heard about Phantom Dark suddenly becoming your... new older brother?"_

Daisuke blushed darkly, embarrassed that Satoshi had heard the gossip around the school of Dark having some little brother who looked nothing like him. "Uh.. well, you see, D-Dark did it... b-because, y'see, Uh..." he stammered, not knowing how to respond to that. Thankfully Satoshi let him off with a chuckle before saying goodbye and hanging up. Daisuke blinked at the phone as he hung up himself, but shook it off as he went downstairs to tell his family what Satoshi had just said.

Sure enough, not even twelve minutes later, everyone was huddled around Satoshi and the worn-out, raggy book sitting on the cleared off table, all looking awed and amazed by the new discovery. Satoshi turned another page, showcasing more sketches of Dark and Krad's feathers and the writings of his long-dead family who'd created everything originally.

"According to this, "Satoshi explained, his voice almost spooky, "when the Black Wings were first created by my ancestors, they'd tried to do the exact same thing with Dark as you've done; give him a soul so he could be human. But it backfired after a while, with Dark becoming in pain and over time, eventually blacked out. It seems that Krad, while inside Dark to maintain his half of the soul, was still active as part of the Black Wings and so, was trying to slowly destroy Dark little by little. Krad's plan was to forever rid the world of Dark, and nearly succeeded until the Hikari's somehow removed Krad from Dark, who was at the point of total destruction and complete death. That's when they decided to seal the two up into what we all know as that statue..." He closed the book and straightened, looking at everyone coolly. "And the rest is history..."

Expressions of shock, disbelief and dismay fell over the Niwas as they slowly began to understand what this entailed for their favorite Thief, but was too afraid to speak it out loud. So, for their emotional benefit, Satoshi closed his eyes and pushed his glasses up further, his voice remaining cool and collected.

"In other words, if Dark continues on the way he is, Krad will ultimately and literally kill him from the inside until there's no way to return to his otherwise normal self."

* * *

**Yeah, I got two cliffhangers here xD I decided to do that for mean-ness really lol. I understand that a lot of you didn't exactly like how Sayo and Dark moved in so suddenly into their relationship. I can see why, but you have to remember that she's doing her hardest to break her vow of keeping her distance from people, and because she's already told Dark about her past, she wanted to take it another step forward by getting Dark to move in with her. It may not make the best of sense, but that's how _she_ sees it, so just bear with me here xD Oh, and another note, for those of you who read my D.N. Angel in Newfoundland story, I'm letting you guys know that I'm thinking about re-writing it. I'm nearing the end of this story and I don't really have any others that I'm still doing, so I figured I'd try to edit the Newfoundland story a bit.**

**Wow, this has to be my longest Author Note ever xD Anyway, read and review!  
**


	16. Chapter 15

**Yes, yes, I realize it's been forever pretty much since I last updated, but at least I have _now_! :D Don't hurt meh Dx I started grade 12 this month, so I've been busy with that along with getting a bank account and a new job. It's been stressful. But I got two more chapters, so it's another double-header, which should make up for it! :D I hope you guys enjoy it! ^.^**

* * *

He could hear soft breathing beside him, like someone was asleep. His chest still pained, but he moved against it and slowly sat up, his breath hitching in his throat from the throbbing, and looked down to see Sayo with her head laying on her hands, sleeping. Dark smiled fondly and chuckled softly, reaching out to brush some of the dark tendrils that had managed to escape her ponytail into his fingers gently. It felt like silk and smelled just like his Sacred Maiden; raspberries with a hint of the outdoors. The simple gesture caused Sayo to scrunch her face a bit and stir, groaning softly. She yawned slightly and sat up, rubbing one of her eyes sleepily. Then they widened when she saw Dark, smiling gently and still holding her hair.

"Dark! You're alright!" she exclaimed in shocked relief, reaching out to give him a big hug. He wrapped his own arms around her, closing his eyes for a moment before having her pull back and look up at him with those deep, amber eyes filled with worry.

"Dark, what the heck _happened_ to you?" Sayo asked in a small voice, still managing to sound frustrated. "Why didn't you tell me that you were this sick? We're going to the hospital, whether you like it or not!" Dark watched as tears began welling in Sayo's eyes and she pounded his bed hard. Dark reached over and put his arms around her, looking down at her soothingly.

"Hey, there's no reason to be sad. I'm fine _now_, aren't I?" he told her with a smooth chuckle. "Although, it's nice to have you worry about me. Shows you _do_ care." He pressed a sweet kiss to her forehead. "I'll be okay, Sayo. Just a bug I need to fix, that's all."

"You stupid... _moron_..." Sayo ground out, her hands gripping the bedsheets tightly. Dark paused and blinked as she raised her head to him. "I'm not crying 'cuz I'm sad! I'm crying 'cuz I'm annoyed by both of us! _You_ for the fact that you're too damn stubborn and thick-headed to tell me what's wrong with you!" She let out a hiccup as she inelegantly wiped her eyes. "A-and _me_ because I didn't see that you were sick until last night... and I can't do anything to help you... We _both_ suck..."

Dark tilted Sayo's head up to look at her. "Thank you for the concern, but I can deal with this myself. And if you want to help, there's no need," he told her, then winked flirtatiously. "Just being with me cures any sickness I may ever get, princess."

A spark of irritation went through Sayo then and she grabbed the pillow Dark had used, smacking him over the head with it. "_Idiot_! _Stupid_! Stop being dumb and get some serious _help_!" she growled, climbing over him to hit him more. He laughed and easily caught the pillow, then pulled Sayo underneath him, making her gasp in surprise and blush. Triumphant that he finally made her speechless, Dark chuckled and began leaning down for a kiss. But before their lips could meet, the phone downstairs rang suddenly. Almost instantly, Sayo pushed Dark off and ran out of the room, and Dark chuckled, reveling in the thought of her blushing. It certainly made her even more cute.

"Hey Dark, that was Mrs. Niwa." Sayo said as she appeared in the doorway minutes later, looking thoughtfully confused. He stood from the bed and stretched, the taste of old blood suddenly back ni his mouth. "She said for us to go over there. Apparently, there's something you might wanna know. Do you have any idea what she's talking about?"

Dark shook his head as he made his way out of his room, Sayo besides him, and his brows knitted together in contemplation. 'Actually, I just _might_.' he thought with a hopeful smirk as they reached the main floor and began slipping on their shoes and jackets.

* * *

"Dark! Ms. Aisaka! It's good to see you two again." Daisuke greeted brightly as the Thief and his girlfriend stepped inside the Niwa house. She smiled warmly to the red head and followed him into the living room, where a boy with short, spiky brown hair lounged on the couch. He glanced over to them, looking almost tired or bored, but his eyes lit up when they came over Dark.

"Whoa! So it _is_ true! Phantom Dark really _did_ find a girlfriend!" he exclaimed, writing something in a notebook. Sayo's smile turned nervous as she waved weakly to him.

"Hey Saehara... how'd that report go?" When the boy blinked blankly at her, she added, "The one that had to do with talking to anti-Dark fangirls. Did my interview help with your research?"

Takeshi's face went pink and although she didn't show it, Sayo realized that there hadn't been any report. Instead, she smiled and nodded, turning to Daisuke.

"Where's your mom? She called my house, telling me and Dark to come over. Is something wrong?" she asked and Daisuke perked up, as if finally realizing why the two were over. He nodded a bit, about to go to the kitchen.

"Oh, are Dark and Sayo here? That was fast." Emiko commented as she came from the kitchen, smiling and wiping her hands on a dish towel. "Sayo, it's nice seeing you again. Dark's treating you well, right?" she giggled and Sayo grinned playfully.

"Sure, when he's not busy worrying me with blood, that is." she said teasingly, giving his arm an affectionate squeeze. Emiko blinked but said nothing about it as she moved to the side, gesturing into the warm kitchen.

"Well, please come in, Dark! Hiwatari's here as well, so try not to fight with him." she told him and Dark smiled jokingly at her.

"You know I'm a perfect gentleman all the time, Emiko. I would _never_ try fighting with Hiwatari." he assured her, following the woman. Sayo sighed then and sat in a chair near the boys. With cooed next to her and bounced into her lap, much to her surprise.

"So what's it like to have Phantom Dark date you? Have you gotten any threats yet? What about your friends; do they resent you now?" Takeshi suddenly demanded, startling Sayo enough to have With jump off her lap. Daisuke turned dark red and awkwardly waved his hands in front of him.

"S-Saehara! That's rude! Why'd you ask her that?" he stammered in nervous shock. Sayo shook her head, leaning back in the seat.

"Nah, it's cool, Daisuke. He's a reporter in the making. If he didn't ask the questions that no one else would, then he'd make a horrible journalist." she assured the red haired boy with a wave of her hand. "To answer you, Saehara, it's certainly never a dull moment when you're dating Dark. But that's in the nice way. No, I haven't gotten any threats. Mostly because I've made sure no one knows that _I'm_ the one going out with him. And my friends are fine with it now; in fact," she paused to chuckled dryly into her hand as she shook her head, "Mikki's so into us as a couple that she's declared herself as the wedding planner for the future wedding and Ichijo as the photographer."

Takeshi laughed then. "She'd never get _those_ pictures right! She's better off at moving objects, like Phantom Dark, than still objects!" he said loudly, holding his camera up for emphasis. Sayo nodded in agreement, smiling ruefully.

"You got _that_ right. I've _seen_ her still-objects pictures. Unbelievably blurry and she blames the wind for it."

"So... you two actually know each other?" Daisuke asked, blinking between the teens. Sayo smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, more'r less." she replied with a shrug. "I was briefly interested in photography and journalism, so I joined these clubs that gave me a few free classes to see if I liked them."

"I know her friend Ichijo, who's in the same photography class as me. She seemed to've suggested it to Sayo, which is how _I_ met her, too." Takeshi added, wiping the cover of his camera, despite it being clean already. Daisuke nodded in understanding, his own mind snapping to the realization, from how Takeshi spoke of Sayo, that he liked her.

"I dropped out, though, 'cuz I got bored." Sayo finished with a laugh, scratching her temple sheepishly. "Guess photography's not my thing."

"But judging by the way you tell things, you'd make a great writer!" Takeshi said with an excited grin. Sayo shook her head modestly, but he pressed on. "Man, the headlines you suggested for my article were awesome! Don't tell me _you_ didn't like 'em!"

"I could've done better, though..." Sayo said, embarrassed of the praise the brunette was giving her. Just then, Emiko stuck her head out to them, giggling happily.

"Daisuke, would your friends like to stay for dinner? I'm making a sticky pot!" she offered, looking at Takeshi and Sayo. She stood up and politely shook her head with a smile.

"Uh, well, I don't know if we should. Dark's not feeling well, y'see, and I'm worried about him..." she explained. But Emiko shook her own head, smiling back.

"Dark will be fine," the woman assured the teen, "Besides, sticky pots are Dark's favorite food! He probably won't want to pass this meal down!"

From inside the kitchen, Dark emerged, a slight smirk on his lips and his arms crossed. He nodded at Emiko's words to Sayo and chuckled, leaning against the doorframe.

"It's true. Sticky pots are one of my few vices in life." he agreed and Sayo laughed.

"Alright, alright, I'll stay for dinner. Thank you for the offer, Mrs. Niwa." Sayo finally said, going over to Dark and giving him a playful poke in his side. Emiko's face lit up and she giggled happily, cupping one cheek with a hand and waving bashfully with the other hand.

"Oh, don't be so formal! Call me Emiko." she insisted, "After all, you _are_ Dark's Sacred Maiden, so you'll be in this family for a long time!" Sayo blinked but smiled shyly, her cheeks going a bit pink in embarrassment. Then Emiko turned to Takeshi, who was taking picture after picture of Dark and Sayo, a crazed grin on his face.

"Saehara? Would you like to stay for dinner as well? There's plenty of it to go around." she asked and almost instantly, Takeshi nodded feverishly.

"Heck yeah! This is my chance to find out more about Phantom Dark! I'd have to be _nuts_ to miss this!" he cackled, busying himself with his camera and the film. Emiko nodded to his acceptance and twirled back into the kitchen, leaving Sayo and Dark with the Phantom-obsessed photographer and his red-haired friend.

* * *

After dinner, which had been just as eventful with the extra people as it was with just the Niwas, Takeshi walked part of the way home with Dark and Sayo.

"So you're _really_ not a Phantom anymore?" Takeshi asked for the hundredth time that evening. While Sayo was looking like she wanted to wrap the boy's camera strap around his neck and tighten it, Dark was patient as ever and simply nodded, gently squeezing Sayo's hand to keep her calm.

"That's right. I stopped stealing once I decided to pursue Ms. Aisaka here and capture her heart." he confirmed with a low chuckle. "Nothing for the best for the number one girl in my life." He gave Sayo a wink, which made her blush dark red, and Takeshi pretended to gag from the sight.

"Anyway, I thought you'd've known about Dark because of Daisuke, Saehara." Sayo mentioned. Beside her, Dark stiffened slightly in shock, mentally hoping the brown haired reporter wouldn't spilled the beans. Unfortunately, Fate had a twisted sense of humor as Takeshi gave Sayo an incredulous look behind his shoulder.

"What are you _talking_ about? How would Daisuke know anything on Dark?" he demanded and Sayo blinked widely in confused shock.

"Because Dark is Daisuke's older brother. How can you not know that?" Sayo told him, raising an eyebrow. At that, Takeshi stopped in his tracks and instantly then, Dark _knew_ his cover was blown to bits.

"Daisuke doesn't have a brother," Takeshi said as if trying to understand what Sayo was saying. "I'm pretty sure I would've known if he did."

Now Sayo stopped, staring at the younger boy with suspicious confusion. "You must be mistaken, because both Dark _and_ Daisuke told me they were brothers..." she said slowly. Then she paused, her breath hitching quietly as she put one and one together. She turned to Dark slowly, almost suspiciously, and gave him a 'Look' that was calm but hiding her anger at him very well. She crossed her arms just as slowly, her lips tightening. "Dark... don't _you_ have something to say about this to me?" she asked him quietly, her tone calm but cold. Dark knew that she realized what he'd done, and there was _no_ getting out of this one for him. While he appeared calm and collected, Dark secretly was cursing to himself from his idiocy. Just when he was getting along _so_ well with her, he had to mess things up and let her find out about him before he had a chance to tell her!

Takeshi, realizing the sudden drop in the atmosphere around, smiled weakly and put his hands up to shield himself from any attacks that may be aimed at him for some reason as he backed away a few steps. Then he pretended to hear something in the distance and perked his ears up. "Oh, I think I hear my dad calling out to me! I should go!" he stammered nervously before running off, leaving Dark alone with an outraged yet calm-looking Sayo. "See ya later!"

Finally, when the boy was gone, Sayo let out a deep breath through her nose, uncrossing her arms and instead putting her hands on her hips in frustration. "Just _what_ is Saehara going on about, that you're not Daisuke's older brother?" she demanded from Dark suddenly. Dark had to take a second to think of something, but decided to go with the complete truth. He sighed to himself and raked a hand through his hair, messing it up a bit, then closed his eyes for a moment to collect his thoughts before opening them again and looking straight at Sayo, his eyes hiding what he was really feeling- regret... near desperation... wary hope that she wouldn't distance herself from him after he told her the truth.

"Sayo... there's something I need to talk to you about." he told her quietly, starting to lead her back to her- _their_- house. She said nothing but followed him cautiously anyway, almost like she was being sure that he wouldn't suddenly pounce on her and hurt her or something. For the rest of the fifteen minute walk, neither spoke. Dark was trying to think about how he was going to tell Sayo of his true nature without making her want to run away, and Sayo was blankly wondering why he hadn't told her that he and Daisuke weren't really siblings. She couldn't think of anything else, not even of the heartbreak that she was already going through.

* * *

**Dun dun duuuuuun! Such a cliffhanger! :D And sadly, this is nearly the end of Against Fate There's only a few more chapters to go! But hey, at least I'm still writing more chapters! :D Anyway, the next chapter is pretty damn stiff and emotional, or at least it was for _me_ when I was writing it. Not sure if you guys will think so. Hopefully, you will, too! Anyway, read and review as always! :D**


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Sayo stared flatly at Dark, who'd just finished telling her of his true origin. He watched her carefully, intently, trying to gauge her reaction to his confession. But her whole face was blank, not one emotion showing in her emptied amber eyes. Finally, she took a slow, long and deep breath through her nose, her arms folding together. Dark mentally coiled up, waiting for her to snap and yell or cry or even _hit_ him.

"So... you're telling me that you've only been human since you visited me on my balcony a couple of months ago?" she asked quietly, her voice low and level. He nodded, wanting her to do _some_thing other than seem white-hot angry. "Okay..." she sighed, then stood up and went to him. She knelt a knee onto the couch beside him and suddenly began unbuttoning his shirt. Startled, Dark gently grabbed her wrists, making her stop, and gave her a puzzled look.

"What are you doing?" he asked with confusion. Sayo peered up to him and finally, he could see the hurt and conflict in the amber hues that, only hours and weeks ago, had looked at him with growing love and happiness. His heart, which had been oddly calm since leaving Daisuke's, sank at the realization that _he_ was the cause for Sayo's pain.

She frowned and tugged her hands from his loose grip, sitting beside him. "I was checking for any wires, 'cuz obviously, you're pulling a practical joke on me." she told him. Dark mentally flinched at the quiet tone of her voice, void of emotions but still somehow showing her hurt. He sighed softly and looked down at her hand, so close to his, he could've reached out a few inches and pull her toward him. But he didn't. This wasn't the right time to. He glanced back up to Sayo, her eyes searching.

"I wish I was kidding, but I'm not, Sayo." he said quietly. Slowly, Sayo's eyes widened in dismay and she took a sharp intake of breath, standing up and taking a few steps back. She shook her head at him and he knew she was still trying to deny it.

Suddenly, her eyes flashed frighteningly and her hands clenched at her sides as she glared at Dark.

"So you're expecting me to believe that you used to be one half of some art sculpture only a few months ago?" she snapped angrily, "And that Daisuke and his family were all in on this the whole time?"

Guilt-ridden, Dark nodded. He knew she'd be upset, especially after finding out about her past, but he never knew _how_ upset. Until now, of course. He stood up and started to reach out to Sayo, but the moment the betrayed gleam of tears shone in her eyes, he could feel the distance between them grow more and more apart. And he knew, no matter how much he'd like to, that the effort he'd made with her could never be repaired.

"I wanted to tell you sooner, Sayo," Dark began quietly, "But I just didn't want to scare you away and risk losing you for good. I'm sorry... I want this to be better for us; put it in the past somehow."

Sayo scoffed, her eyes hardening painfully. "_Scare_ me? Risk _losing_ me?" she repeated in disgusted disbelief. "So you decide to wait until I fell in love with you to toss this at me? I went against _every_thing I believed in by letting you in as close as I did! How could you _do_ this to me? You _lied_ to me, Dark!" She paused, taking in some air while the amethyst-haired man watched her, guarded and half pleased when he heard her say that she loved him. But when Sayo got mad, it was difficult to stay focused on that sort of thing.

"But I suppose I should've known from the start," she continued, not yelling anymore but still _very_ angry, "I mean, you _had_ to be something supernatural in order to do the stealing you did. And you and Daisuke look _nothing_ alike; it was impossible for you two to be related."

"Well, I'm considered to be part of the family because of the curse." Dark tried to joke but it fell flat from the cross look on Sayo's face. He sighed, wanting so much to make her understand and accept his true self. But he knew better. "Sayo, you have to trust me on this- I didn't want you finding out this way at all. I was hoping to tell you in a more better situation and you weren't so mad."

He could see the tears filling her eyes now and his reflection in them. He looked so calm and poised, which was _far_ from what he really felt. Why did he always have to be so collected and at ease in all sorts of situations like this? Why couldn't he let himself look upset or angry or concerned when the time called for it? She probably thought he wasn't taking this seriously, which was why she was so mad and crying over it.

"Why should I trust you anymore?" she demanded from him, choked up and trying to keep the sobs from escaping. "I did that for the past six months and look where it's got me- finding out that my boyfriend isn't human and had been lying about it for that long! Give me one good reason I shouldn't just have nothing to do with you ever again!"

"Because I love you, Sayo." It was the simple truth, straight from the ex-Thief's heart. He _did_ love her, which had been the sole reason he wanted to become human in the first place. Not because he wanted to stop stealing- hell, no, he had _fun_ doing that- or because he wanted to see more of the cute Harada twins and embarrass Daisuke with it. It was all because he wanted to be with Sayo properly, without having to worry about the police or anyone on his trail. He wanted to be with her gorgeous smile, sparkling eyes and unique personality. Nothing more.

However, Sayo seemed to think otherwise. She glared in watery anger at Dark and scowled deeply, the tears dripping silently from her eyes and falling to her shirt and carpet. She shook a bit, as if trying her hardest to not scream at him and punch him into a pulp- something she might've actually done in the beginning. But _now_, after being with him for so many months and seeing how he _really_ when he wasn't being Phantom Dark, she simply couldn't believe what he was telling her. Her chest hurt with the pain and betrayal and even if it didn't make any real sense, she could just feel and see the trust and bond they'd been creating over time stretch them apart from each other and snap. She couldn't stand it; the first time in little over ten years she let herself get close to someone, and they lied to her- _again_! She was positive now that she couldn't have a proper relationship with anyone without pain.

The silence begun to be too much and Dark slipped his hands into his pockets, closing his eyes regretfully. Even when mad, Sayo still looked beautiful. He didn't want to lose the image at all. But he knew she needed some time for herself to think, so he figured going to Daisuke's and hanging around there for a few days might help her. He turned to the door, ready to step into his shoes and walk out, but Sayo stopped him with her next words, full of cold fury, and it made his heart drop more in guilt.

"I don't want to see you ever again, Dark. And if you see me, don't bother talking to me, either."

He took a pause then, turning his head around to bow slightly to her. "As you wish, princess." he said softly, and then seemed to disappear out the door, gone in a blink of an eye. Sayo scowled in sadness and anger, her hands turning white from how much she was holding them tightly. She stormed to the front door, letting herself peek out it just in case she could still see Dark's retreating figure, but shook her head in self admonishment and closed the door tightly, locking it. She finally let herself cry as much as she wanted to minutes ago, and slid down her back down the hard, cold wood and buried her head into her knees, sobbing quietly.

'Dark, you stupid _jerk_.' she thought angrily, but mostly to herself. She didn't and couldn't understand how this could've happened. And her brain was too muddled to even _begin_ to understand how this had happened. After a few minutes of letting herself cry, Sayo managed to stand up and go upstairs to Dark's room. She paused in the doorway, her heart thumping hard as she thought of how he'd been lying in that same bed only hours ago and she'd looked after him while he rested. She went over to the messy bed, but stopped in surprise when she saw something glint in the moonlight, on the pillow. Sitting on the bed, she blinked and reached for the single piece of paper and saw writing on it and something shiny under it. She picked up what she quickly realized to be a small mock gold necklace with a simple black feather attached to it. Choking up even more, Sayo glanced at the paper, her eyes welling with tears once more at what was written on it.

_For my Sacred Maiden_

'Dark, you stupid _jerk_...' she thought again, burying her face into the pillow and smelling his scent on it. She curled up into a ball, clutching the necklace in her hand tightly, and ended up falling asleep, wrapped in all things that smelled like her Phantom Thief.

* * *

**So there we have it! Dark's true origins are finally known to Sayo! And looks like she didn't take it very well, huh? . Wonder if they'll ever make up... Well, you'll have to find out in the next chapters! ^.^ Oh, and BTW, some parts in this chapter were inspired by the songs "Je Nai Pas De Mots" and "Hello Beautiful", both by Vic Mignogna. :D Check them out if you've never heard them before; they're absolutely amazing! :O**


	18. Chapter 17

Walking back to Daisuke's, Dark couldn't stop thinking about Sayo's reaction; the tears and pain in her eyes. Remembering what Daisuke had told him on the night of his first attack. Maybe the Thief _should_ have told her sooner. His plan had completely blown up right into his face and he had no one to blame but himself. If he hadn't procrastinated with enjoying Sayo's company and had just gotten the truth out of the way from the very beginning, perhaps she wouldn't have acted so badly and none of this would've happened.

Dark stopped, looking up to the star-lit night sky with more thought. But now, he was recalling Hiwatari's explanation back in the kitchen at Daisuke's. The fact that Krad was trying to kill him from the inside somehow didn't surprise Dark. Leave it to the fallen angel to go to dramatic measures like _that_. He sighed lightly and winced a bit when his chest throbbed, as if reminding Dark just who was in charge of his human life and forcing him to realize that one wrong move may result in his death. He'd also love to know how exactly the Hikari family had managed to take Krad's soul from Dark's all those years ago. He couldn't remember that time at _all_. It was as if all the memories of his time around the Hikari family had been erased so that all he could recall was being a Phantom Thief in the Niwa family.

The handsome young man swept a hand through his hair, suddenly restless. He honestly had no idea what to do. He'd nearly gotten his Sacred Maiden- even managed to get her to fall in _love_ with him, for crying out loud!- and now everything he'd done had gone to waste. For a split second, he almost felt... _defeated_. What was he going to do if Sayo refused to have anything to do with him? It wasn't like he could just revert to Phantom Thief life. After all the time and researching Emiko, Daiki and Kosuke had spent on how to turn him human, he felt that going back to his old style was selfish. They'd risked everything for him, for his one desire in life. He had no right to make _that_ crumble as well.

Dark continued on toward Daisuke's, his mind reeling impatiently and recklessly with his options. But the best thing he could think of was to let Sayo have a few days to cool off, go see her once more, and hope she had calmed down. If she had, they'd try talking through things. If not, maybe she really did get the last part of her heart ripped out beyond repair and he'd force himself to leave her alone forever...

* * *

"Dark? What are you doing over here?" Emiko asked curiously from the living room couch, her head turned in his direction. He chuckled and tried to keep a calm face on, despite the pain going on in his chest. "Did something happen? Is everything alright?" she asked again, this time, starting to stand. He walked over to her side of the couch, shaking his head slightly, and placed a hand on the back of the furniture.

"Everything's not really good right now, but hopefully it _will_ be in a few days." he told her softly, giving her his best charmer smile, hoping to steer her off-track. But nothing went past _her_. She frowned sympathetically and furrowed her brows, her fingers daintily at her lips already. Dark smiled genuinely for a moment. That's what he adored about this woman; she always thought everything through when it came to bad situations and gave the best advice she could. After a thoughtful second, Emiko gestured to the couch for Dark to sit and he did without a word. Sometimes, it was best _not_ to argue with her. She sat beside him and looked at him, worry and concern practically _oozing_ from her.

"Dai told me that Saehara accidentally blew your cover. But what happened afterward?" Emiko asked gently, trying not to touch an exposed nerve of Dark's. He sighed a bit and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes to relax his mind.

"I told Sayo the truth." he replied, his voice distant but far from upset. In fact, he sounded somewhat upbeat, for some reason. "I told her and she got really upset over it. I doubt she'll want to see me for the next couple of days, so I think I'll just lay low for a while here." He opened his eyes to gaze over at Emiko, who looked like she wanted to cry for him. "That's okay with you, right?" he asked her. She nodded silently just as he heard padded footsteps coming down the stairs.

"I'm out of the bath..." Daisuke said with a half sigh, still patting his red hair dry with a powder blue towel draped over his shoulders. He paused when he looked up and saw Dark, then blinked in mild surprise with a smile. "I thought I heard your voice down here. Sorry about Saehara. I didn't think he'd do that to you." he said, walking to the area they were in. He sat down in the chair across from his mother. "So, what happened, anyway? Is Ms. Aisaka alright? You didn't leave her at her house crying, did you, Dark?"

The purple-haired man raised his hands innocently, a half amused smile on his face. "It's not like I had much of a choice," he explained nonchalantly. "It was either do _that_ or risk losing a limb or two from her rage." At Daisuke's shocked faced, he added, "Don't worry, I'm going to return when I figure she's calmed down enough. After all, I can't go by a day without seeing or hearing from my beautiful enchantress." He gave the red head a wink at the end, showing him the cool and collected side of himself, even though inside, he was still cracking up from the distress.

"Dark... do you really think she'll get over this in a few days? You _did_ tell her everything about yourself, I mean. It's a huge thing to deal with." Emiko asked gently, her tone wondering. Dark looked at her and his smile fell into a thin line of contemplation.

"I get what you're saying..." he said slowly, his hand cupping his chin as he spoke his thoughts. "And then add in why she wouldn't let me closer in the beginning, and it just might add up to taking _more_ than just a few days to recover..."

"What do you mean? Why didn't she let you get closer to her, Dark?" Daisuke asked, leaning forward to blink curiously at his other half. Dark looked between both Niwas an crossed his arms, closing his eyes as he remember the night Sayo had told him about her past. He could still see the distant want of confirmation from her eyes that she craved his acceptance of her afterward; that she wasn't a complete freak of nature for having that line of thought. It only made him love her more...

"Ten years ago, she found out she'd been adopted. The couple that took her in had died in a place crash on the way back here and her adopted aunt and uncle told her but she didn't take it well." Dark explained, his tone heavy and yet soft. He opened his eyes again. "She swore on that day that she'd never let anyone close to her because she didn't want to get hurt again by them. That's why she wouldn't let herself let me in. _That's_ why she took my news so hard tonight. Because I didn't tell her the truth from the start and even though I had many chances to do it, I never took them because all I wanted was to be with her without any worries." He chuckled faintly, but not in amusement. It was more bitter and regretful. "But I guess all that time wasted not telling her just came back to bite me where it hurts the most."

"Oh, Dark..." Emiko said softly in sadness and Daisuke frowned sorrowfully for his friend. Dark smiled a bit, trying to lift the mood, and stood up. He stretched and gave them assuring grins.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it'll all work out for the best, you know." he told them with a light wink before heading up to his 'old' bedroom for some sleep. God knew he needed some after the long, draining day. Daisuke and Emiko glanced at each other, sharing a look that meant how bad they felt for the ex-Thief, but knew that it was pointless for them to brood over it for him.

* * *

The next day, Sayo had forced herself to return to her classes at school, going through each lesson like a robot, her mind still on numb mode and unable to get her thinking properly. It was third period when she was suddenly bombarded by Ichijo, the reporter slamming her hands onto Sayo's desk so loudly, practically everyone jumped out of their skins. But when they realized it was just Ichijo, they returned to whatever they'd been doing. Sayo blinked up at the brown-haired girl, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Uh, what?" Sayo asked blandly, not caring if she sounded rude. She just wasn't in a good mood, so what reason did she have to act nice today? Ichijo frowned and pushed her face into Sayo's, her eyes pretty much glaring at her. Sayo scowled, getting annoyed. "_What_?" she snapped irritably.

Ichijo pulled back and crossed her arms over he chest. "He says he's really sorry about last night and he hopes he didn't do anything to interfere with your and Phantom Dark's lovey-dovey life." she said finally, her tone blasè as she waved a hand dismissively, like she didn't care about what she was saying. But her words made Sayo's chest twitch in memory about the fight she and Dark had gotten into the previous evening. She remembered waking up, still in Dark's bed, and still smelling his amazing scent around her. Usually it would've been a great way to wake up, and with him next to her, but instead, it merely made Sayo's heart drop in hurt and give her fresh tears welling in her eyes. She closed them to avoid them spilling onto her desk, trying her hardest to keep herself collected just as Dark had appeared last night. He'd just looked so damn calm, like he didn't even really care that he'd broken not only her heart but her spirit. He was the last thing for her and he'd taken that chance and split it into a thousand pieces, by accident or not.

"Whatever, like it matters any more." Sayo said crossly, turning her head in anger. "Dark and I are no longer together..."

"What? Ohmigosh, Sayo, I'm so sorry!" Mikki exclaimed just on cue, twirling in her seat to face her best friend just as she had slid into it before the late bell. The pink-haired girl pouted, both in sadness for Sayo and sadness for herself. "And I was hoping that you'd let me meet Phantom Dark again, too... I never got to ask him what I meant to that time..." she said, but shrugged it off with a sympathetic smile for her friend. Sayo chuckled a tiny bit under her breath, rolling her eyes a little.

"Mikki, I doubt that even if Dark didn't know me and you'd met him by yourself, he'd never agree to letting you have his phantom children. I doubt _anyone_ would let you do that to them." she said in amusement, loving Mikki at the moment for cheering her up and letting her momentarily forgetting about Dark. Then she fell silent and stared down at her desk, biting her bottom lip nervously.

Dark had seemed sincere when he told her he wished he could have told her differently. Maybe he didn't want it to go down like it had. Maybe he had been planning to tell her the next day or something. But she'd never know now because she had pushed him out of her life like she had done when she first met him. Maybe if she found Daisuke and told him to tell Dark to return, she could clear the air with them and hopefully try to get back to normal by the end of the week. If she did, then the gap in her heart wouldn't feel so damn empty and she'd feel less torn apart, like a piece of her had been taken away and stomped on then put back as a tiny, minuscule disk of blackness that used to be her heart...

But then she remembered all the times Dark had a chance to tell her about himself and never had. It brought her anger boiling again and she clenched her fists tightly against her chest toward the thief. What made her think he would've told her at _all_? Maybe he was hoping to never have to, and continue being with her with that huge deception under his belt for her to never find out. And if he had cared about her at _all_, he would've told her as soon as he had the chance! Especially after she bared her entire soul to him and revealed her past to him! So she had the absolute _right_ to be pissed off at him! She was permitted to be royally mad at Dark for as long as a good few weeks, even more if she wanted! He had hurt her beyond belief and he was going to _pay_ for it!

So why did those kind of thoughts make Sayo want to burst into tears right there on the spot?


	19. Chapter 18

Almost a week and a half passed by and Sayo's feelings continued to bounce back and forth between wanting to give Dark another chance and thinking that staying mad at him was the best for her. As she was torn between these two decisions, she simply went through the motions; doing her work in class obediently, hanging out with Mikki and Ichijo (whom Sayo and Mikki had become close friends with after the span of the reporter meeting Dark properly), and sitting at home, mulling over her thoughts thousands of times. She still couldn't decide and because of that, she wasn't sure if she was doing the right thing or not. Half the time, she couldn't even decide of what to eat for _breakfast_ without getting upset about it! It was driving her mad with frustration! She _wanted_ to see Dark again; she _didn't_ want to see Dark again. She _hated_ Dark; she still _loved_ Dark. It was too confusing for her to even _begin_ to comprehend!

So one night, after Mikki had invited her to go see a movie with her and her new boyfriend (a local schoolboy who reminded Sayo of Daisuke somehow) and Sayo had told her she'd think about it, she finally decided to go for it. Anything would distract her from further thinking about her current situation with Dark and she needed the break! So after she phoned Mikki up and accepted the movie invite and endured nearly a half hour of endless happy ranting about the apparent hot actor in the film, Sayo took a quick shower then marched out of her home wearing the nicest clothes she could find to meet up with her best friend at their usual meeting spot.

When she arrived, she noticed that her watch had died and from glancing at a nearby clock in a store window, she was ten minutes early. Sighing, Sayo leaned against the lamp post and closed her eyes, allowing her brain to concentrate on her iPod music that was playing some sort of soft, sweet melody that was the complete opposite of her raging, distorted mind and thoughts. She saw feet in front of her when she opened her eyes a bit, and she realized that they were far from being Mikki's usual perky high tops accompanied by some charming young boy she had begun dating. Raising her head a little, she saw three boys- rival tough guys from the school (a name of which Sayo never bothered to ever remember) that hated Azumano High with trashy spiked black hair and their school blazers undone completely to seem against the system- grinning suggestively at her. She groaned inwardly, wishing she hadn't worn her wedge sandals that night or her black, low cut mini skirt/dress thing, either.

"Hey, cutie, what's say you ditch whoever yer meetin' and come hang out with some _real_ people?" the tallest and strongest-looking one -probably the leader considering how he was closest to her compared to the other two- told her, chuckling under his breath as his snaky and creepy green eyes slid all over her body in a way that made her not only scared, but annoyed and pissed. He had no right to look at her like a piece of meat! What made him think he could at all?

Sayo shook her head calmly, though, despite the mental shaking that had started inside her from fear of something happening to her before Mikki and Kenji could get there. "No, I'd much rather stay here and see a movie with my friends. Why don't you try asking some girl on a corner, though? You might get better luck with _her_." she suggested just as calmly, proud that her voice didn't waver once while speaking. She actually sounded a bit _bored_! As if she was _used_ to dealing with slimeballs like them!

The leader sneered angrily then, and turned his head to the other two, who copied his face, but with more ugliness. He turned his attention back to Sayo, who was beginning to perspire a bit from her palms, which were luckily behind her for support against the post.

"Oh, really? Well, I'm sure I can think of something that would make you interested in losing your friends." he told her menacingly, stepping toward her. She flinched, which was the wrong thing to do, since the boy laughed mockingly and reached a hand toward her, ready to snatch her up and drag her away. But before he could even get an inch close to her, Sayo's hair jostled around as a sharp wind went right in front of her and suddenly, she saw a hand gripping the boy's wrist and the boy looked almost frightened of who was holding it. Her eyes crawled slowly to her right to see who it was, her brain already figuring it out for her, and widened in shock.

Dark looked almost too casual to be holding onto a threatening teenager by the wrist. He was smiling calmly, almost in amusement, and his eyes- oh, how Sayo missed those deep, meaningful amethyst eyes of his!- looked directly at the boy with a hint of anger in them. Half of her longed to cry out his name, pull him from the boy and give him the biggest hug and kiss she'd ever given to him in her life, but the other half wanted nothing more than for Dark to leave her alone and let her live her life peacefully.

"W-w-what the hell-?" the boy stammered angrily, his blue eyes shocked in fury at being treated so badly. "Who the fuck do you think you _are_, buddy? This girl's mine, ya hear?" Looked like the boy was trying to continue being tough by showing off his male genes in front of a dainty little girl. Dark's smile turned up more in one corner, turning into a small smirk.

"I hear you..." Dark said softly, then tightened the boy's wrist more as he lowered it away from Sayo. "But I also heard her telling you to leave her alone. So why not take the girl's advice to heart and go wander off somewhere else, hmm? I'm sure society would appreciate that much more than you taking advantage of this beautiful young woman here."

"Oh, yeah? And what if I _don't_, huh? What are ya gonna do about it?" the boy smirked, acting over cocky to hide his obvious fear of the man. Dark took literally one step toward the boy, Sayo watching his fingers of the boy's wrist tighten even more, and the punk's face melted into strict fear and he struggled to tear his hand free from the phantom's.

"O-okay, okay! I get'cha, buddy! Lemme g-go!" the boy exclaimed, his voice cracking. Slowly but surely, Dark's grip loosened enough that he quickly slipped his hand free and as he held his hurt wrist in his other hand, spun on his heel and ran off, his cronies following after his heels instantly. Sayo wasn't sure what Dark had done or even _said_ to the boy, and she wasn't sure she actually _wanted_ to know, but she knew for a fact that Dark had just saved her from unknown, impending _doom_. He deserved _some_thing from her for gratitude and thanks.

But before Sayo could speak up, the man simply started walking back from where he'd mysteriously appeared from, not saying a word to her as his retreating back seemed to be horribly sagging and still rejected. Sayo froze at the sight, feeling more horrible than ever before. Somehow, just by telling him to leave her be a week and a half ago, she'd managed to break the ex-Thief's spirit, breaking down as each day she refused to speak to him passed. She had managed to make the courage-ous, strong-willed and spirited, confident until practically cocky Phantom Dark... into some sort of slow-paced, dejected shell of a body. And she felt sick just thinking of it.

"Dark! Hold on!" Sayo jolted, thinking that it was _her_ who had cried that out, but she hadn't even opened her mouth yet. Looking around frantically to find the person who had done it, she saw Mikki and a boy with neat copper hair running toward them both. Mikki looked almost desperate while Kenji simply tried his best to keep up with the energetic girl. Dark paused, his back straightened in mild surprise. When Mikki and Kenji stopped in front of them both, Mikki took only a moment to catch her breath whereas it took almost a full minute for Kenji to. Mikki finally pulled herself together and stared up at Dark, her bright green eyes pleading and just as desperate as her expression.

"Dark, please, I'm not sure what it is that you did to upset Sayo so much, but don't give up on her!" she belted out, using so much force behind her words that she leaned forward with her eyes shut tightly. Both Dark and Sayo blinked in confusion at the pink-haired girl, but only Sayo blushed scarlet at her words. Mikki looked up at them again, upset herself. "Dark... Sayo _does_ love you... She really does. When you and her were dating, I could see her beam in happiness every time she spent a night with you doing whatever, even if you two had just watched a movie together." She paused, taking a deep breath so she could go on. "But whatever's going on between you... you can work it out, I _know_ it! Sayo's been through a lot of bad things in her life, like her finding out about her real parents, but if she hadn't cared from the very beginning; the _moment_ she fell for you, she wouldn't be this confused about what to do! Just... let her have another little while... Then I promise you that she'll have something sorted for you both..."

Her face entirely red in both embarrassment and wanting to cry happily for her best friend being able to express how she felt inside, Sayo let out a choked out half-sob, catching Dark's attention. He stepped over to her and gracefully swept the stray tear from her cheek, smiling softly at her. Sayo looked up at him and nodded, a pained smile on her own face.

"S-she's right, Dark..." Sayo managed to choke out through her welled-up tears. "Just-just give me another few days or something... I _do_ miss you, but I can't handle it still right now. I need time and space, but I'll c-come round eventually... I promise..."

With a short nod, Dark reached down and Sayo closed her eyes, expecting him to kiss her, but instead felt his lips press to her forehead gently and a warm and soothing hand touch the necklace he'd given her. "Seems like you found the gift..." Dark murmured with a sweet chuckle against her skin. Sayo nodded shyly, reaching a hand to the chain and met his hand. They stayed in that pose, holding hands and simply feeling their skin against each other's, for a few long seconds before Dark pulled away and smiled.

"I'll let you go with your friends..." he told her softly, giving her a wink as well. "If you ever want to talk or see me, you know where to find me." Behind him in the distance, Sayo could see Daisuke standing next to a girl with short copper hair, as if waiting for the tall phantom to return to them. Sayo nodded again, this time with a strong smile and watched as Dark turned slowly on his heel and walked away, casually and confidently, nothing like the previous back she'd seen moments ago before Mikki arrived.

After another few long seconds, Mikki suddenly pounced around Sayo's shoulders, causing her to squeal rather inelegantly and almost stumble to the concrete. Mikki grinned and giggled, rubbing her cheek against Sayo's like a happy cat.

"So what was _that_ all about, Sayo?" she asked in her usual perky way, sounding nothing like the desperate girl she was a minute ago. "Did Dark protect you against some mean boys who were picking on you?"

"Something like that." the amber-eyed girl replied softly, smiling gently at her best friend. "But thanks to you, it doesn't really matter anymore. Everything will be alright eventually, just like it always has."

The thing was, Sayo wasn't really sure of _what_ that was going to be alright, whther it be between her and Dark or anything else. She just knew that when the time came, natural order would restore itself and everything would go back to the way it should've been from the very beginning.

* * *

**So yet another double chapter, yay for that! ^.^ And as of this chapter, there are only (I think, fi my calculations are correct) either two or three chapters left, excluding a epilogue. And as well, for being just a dedicated reader and reviewer, I'm going to make a one-shot for... *dramatic drumroll* Crazy Computer Vendetta! :D It's a thanks for reviewing, critiquing and reading my story from the very beginning! ^.^ Computer, just send me a private message about what kind of D. N. Angel one-shot you'd like and when I finished it, I'll post it on here as an extra. ^.^Remember, read and review, people!**


	20. Chapter 19

Weeks passed since Sayo last saw Dark. She missed him terribly, sometimes just laying in his bed for his scent, but still couldn't get herself to see him at Daisuke's house. Her heart still pained thinking back on the true Phantom Dark, and she constantly berated herself for being spineless. But she just couldn't do it. It hurt too much...

On occasion, she'd run into Daisuke at the train station, and he'd bring her up-to-date on Dark's health. Although the ex-Thief was mostly just bed-ridden, it started worrying Sayo to hear that he was getting much worse over a short period of time.

Friday was such a case.

"He doesn't want me to tell you, but I know you'd find a way to get it out of me eventually." Daisuke said, joking lightly with his fond smile. Sayo couldn't resist her own smile at that. Even though she'd been upset with the red head in the beginning for going along with Dark's 'little brother' lie, she quickly came to realize that despite not being related at all, Daisuke and Dark really _did_ seem like brothers. Needless to say, the boy was forgiven.

"But... he's been getting worse lately." Daisuke told her, his smile fading into a troubled frown. "I don't know how much longer Dark has left." He looked up at Sayo with a sad yet hopeful smile. "Maybe if you saw him, Ms. Aisaka, he might-"

Sayo stopped him short, shaking her head. "I can't, Dai. I-I just can't; not yet." she told him, feeling herself curl into a ball in her mind. Daisuke's face fell but he nodded a bit. "I-it's not that I don't want to- I really _do_. But after the last time I saw him... I don't want him getting his hopes up and thinking I want to date him again."

"It's okay. I understand, Ms. Aisaka." Daisuke assured her with a soft laugh. "When you do decide to come by, I know you'll be trying hard for yourself. Don't push anything until you can go forward without hesitating. That's how Dark and I feel and how _you_ feel, too, right?"

Sayo stared at Daisuke in awe, trying to figure out how he understood her feelings at such a younger age. It baffled her and also made her give him more respect in her eyes. Finally, she nodded in agreement and their conversation veered onto a discussion of what the boy would expect from Azumano High when he entered it in two years.

* * *

"Ah, good morning, Sayo!" Mikki giggled out with a cheerful wave from her seat in homeroom. Sayo smiled a bit and waved back, sitting between her and Kenji. The instant Sayo placed her bag onto its hook on the side of her desk, Mikki leaned over to her and grinned. "Did you hear? There's a real cutie transferring into Class 3-1!" she exclaimed quietly with an excited squeal. Sayo blinked in confusion. It was nearly the end of the school year- who'd transfer that late?

"But... why now, though? It's a bit late, don'cha think?" Sayo asked curiously. She turned to Kenji, who smiled a bit and shrugged.

"Apparently his family moved to a different part of town and it was too much of a hassle for him to get back and forth from school. So he transferred here. That's about all I know." he explained with a lazy stretch. Mikki leaned her chin onto Sayo's shoulder with a cat-like smile as she lovingly and proud gazed at Kenji.

"Kenji seems to know a lot about the new guy! It's kinda weird!" she giggled, giving the black haired boy a playful wink. He grinned and stuck his tongue out at her in return. Sayo rolled her eyes in amusement at them and pushed Mikki's head off her shoulder just as Ichijo hopped toward her desk, holding her state-of-the-art camera in her hands. Figuring that the reporter had pictures of the new student, Mikki grabbed the camera from her grasp, laughing happily as she kept it out of Ichijo's reach.

"Mikki! Give it back! You'll break it, you butterfingers!" the brunette exclaimed. Sayo sighed a bit, closing her eyes. It was a wonder they had all this energy so early in the morning. After finally getting the camera back, Ichijo grinned triumphantly and flicked to a certain photo on the device then put it in front of Sayo, who blinked blandly and picked it up, glancing at the screen.

A boy a year older than Sayo and her friends with stick-straight blazing fire-red hair in casual clothing was frozen in the photo, talking and smiling to a teacher whom Sayo assumed was showing him around the school earlier. He was cute enough to her but she didn't realize how much until she felt her face heat up. It was at that moment that Kenji took the camera from her and glanced at it himself, blinking.

"Hey, I know this guy, I think..." he murmured, squinting his eyes to get a better look. All three girls looked at him in confusion. He smiled brightly and nodded, handing the camera back to Ichijo. "Yeah, I do. That's my older half-brother, Kentarou Anderson."

"_Whaaaat?_" the girls exclaimed loudly, getting everyone in the class to stare at them. They smiled nervously and waved it off before crowding around Kenji, who still wore the bright smile on his face. Mikki was directly in front of him, pouting and looking like she was going to cry while Ichijo already had her notepad out, ready for information and Sayo looked completely shocked.

"What do you mean, he's your half-brother, Kenji? Why didn't you tell me?" Mikki said, shaking his arm a bit. He laughed feebly and sweat dropped.

"W-well, y'see.. my mother and his father had been married for years before they had him... and when he was almost six months old, they divorced and Mom re-married and then had-" he tried to explain but Ichijo thrusted her pencil eraser into his face.

"Don't act stupid! We know how half-siblings are made; she _means_ why didn't you tell us or her that you weren't an only child before now!" she demanded as only she could in reporter-mode. Kenji blinked and scratched his neck sheepishly.

"I never thought it'd come up. Besides, I don't really know him that well. He and his father moved to America before I had a chance to know him at all. I only recognized him because of the pictures Mom has from when he and his father still lived in Japan. Other than that, he's just as much a mystery to me as he is to everyone else here."

"Well, if _that's_ the case, then there isn't much anyone can do, right?" Sayo said with a shrug. "But I mean, maybe he'll know who you are and we can meet him. I can't imagine how it'd feel to not know anyone _and_ transfer to a new school so late in the year. I'm sure we could find him and make him feel at home." She smiled at Kenji at the suggestion and everyone brightened at the thought. They nodded enthusiastically and as they began discussing how they'd find Kentarou at lunch. Sayo smiled softly and watched them but didn't really feel like getting too involved with it. Her thoughts went back to her talk with Daisuke that morning and she briefly wondered how Dark was doing that moment.

* * *

Emiko opened the door to Dark's bedroom with an icepack in her hands, but stopped in the doorway when she saw the tall boy trying to make his way into the bathroom. She gasped lightly and laid the icepack onto the table near her before going to him and holding him up by his shoulders. He groaned and gripped his sweat-drenched shirt with his hand, slowly opening one eye to look at the woman.

"Dark, you know you shouldn't be up... Are you trying to make your condition worse?" she told him gently, leading him back to the bed. He chuckled weakly and laid down, resting his hand to his damp hair. She frowned with worry and sighed softly, taking the icepack back and putting it onto his forehead. He seemed to relax at the cold touch and a faint smirk crossed his face at it.

"The great Phantom Thief..." Dark said quietly with small bitterness. "Reduced to a mass of shivers and sweat... Never thought that this was the way I'd go, but hey..." He peeked open an eye again, giving Emiko a reassuring grin. "I got to see everyone and my Sacred Maiden one last time, so it was definitely worth it to me..."

Emiko smiled sadly, wiping some perspiration from Dark's temple. "Don't speak that way..." she lightly scolded him. "We'll find a way to stop this and it'll work much better than when this started. You'll see. We've got Hiwatari helping as much as he can, so we're bound to find _some_thing. Besides, wouldn't you like to see Sayo looking like your same, handsome self?" she asked, winking as if to cheer him up. Dark chuckled a bit more than he usually did, but stopped short as he couched violently, his hand turning dark red from his blood. Emiko bit her bottom lip and cleaned his mouth, ignoring the feeble protests coming from him. He sighed heavily and leaned back against his pillow, closing his eyes.

"I always knew Krad wanted to kill me, but I didn't think he'd go _this_ far," he muttered, "He certainly has some deep issues with me, doesn't he?"

"Maybe so, but we'll get through this." Emiko told him firmly, her worry melting into determination on her face. "Don't worry, Dark. Just concentrate on getting better and Dad, Kosuke and I will take care of the rest. Next time Sayo sees you, she'll have to ask herself if the past few weeks weren't part of her imagination, you'll be that healthy. Then you two can be happy together."

Dark smiled at Emiko, not for the first time that day thinking how lucky he was to have the Niwas for support. He wouldn't have it any other way, other than him trying to help them fix the problem, of course. But he could barely stand up by himself without collapsing to the floor in pain. Krad was hurting him worse internally than he did during their past fights and for a few seconds, wondered why that was. But before he could ever get close to figuring it out, the pain would intensify double time and he'd use all his concentration on making it through the attack.

Dark turned his head toward the window next to his bed and sighed quietly but heavily, his thoughts spinning out of control toward how Sayo was doing. He missed her too much, but he was letting her take her time with his confession. There wasn't much else he could do _there_ other than just _wait_. Although he didn't know how much longer he could wait for...

* * *

"Sayo, Sayo, I found him!"

"Huh?" Sayo blinked and paused, turning around to see Mikki running toward her with a wide grin on her face. The pinkette finally slowed in front of Sayo and caught her breath, then grinned and nodded.

"I found the new student! Seems that Kenji's brother recognized him during recess and they've been talking since! I just met him and lemme tell you, he's _such_ a total cutie! He might be good for you, Sayo!" Mikki told her in a rush, grabbing Sayo's arm and dragging her toward the main staircase of the high school. Sayo managed to keep up with her easily, but groaned at the mention of hooking her up.

"Are you _always_ going to be hell-bent on trying to match me up with people?" she exclaimed over the din of the students around them. Mikki merely giggled and continued running. "And why are you in such a rush? It's not like the earth is gonna swallow Kenji and Kentarou up and disappear, right? We don't have to run!" she added with a heavy breath as she began slowing down. Thankfully, they were almost there and by the time the girls got to the bench next to the stairs, Sayo had already caught her breath. She groaned wearily and sat on the bench, unaware that Kentarou was beside her, blinking at her in wonder.

"Mikki... I swear you're going to _kill_ me with all the running..." Sayo complained halfheartedly. Mikki giggled sheepishly.

"Ah, sorry, Sayo. I was just so excited to have you meet Kentarou that I forgot you can't run as fast as me." she apologized meekly, patting Sayo on the head gently. Sayo grunted and finally looked up, seeing Kentarou face to face for the first time. Amber met sky blue and she did all she could to not blush at the sight. He smiled warmly and chuckled a bit.

"I take it you're Ms. Sayo Aisaka, then." he said with a bow of his head. "Nice to meet you. I'm Kentarou Anderson." He held his hand out to her, which snapped her out of her odd daze, and she blinked, taking it hesitantly. If he noticed it, he didn't seem to as he smiled more at her and turned to his half-brother and everyone else. Sayo could only watch numbly, her hands tightening in her lap. Why was she acting this way around Kentarou? She'd only _just_ met him! She didn't need more confusing feelings when she still hadn't decided what she was doing with Dark! But there they were anyway... She could feel her world opening and it wasn't just starting _now_. It'd begun opening when she fell in love with Dark... The Thief had opened her eyes and heart to life and now she was already growing feelings for Kentarou. She could tell that he was going to be an important figure in her new life.

Sayo smiled at the new thought, reveling at how simple it seemed in her head. Kentarou was a new chapter in her life, just as Dark had been.

"So, you're not full Japanese, are you?" Ichijo asked, tapping her pencil eraser against her chin as she stared firmly at Kentarou. He laughed and shook his head.

"No, my father's American, and I moved with him and my mom there when I was really young, so I ended up taking my father's last name." he told her lightly. Mikki smiled in delight.

"You speak Japanese well, though! It must be great to speak both English and Japanese." she commented, "Maybe you could teach me English! It'd be great to learn it in case I ever meet any cute Americans in the future!" Kenji raised an eyebrow at Mikki and she wrapped her arms around his neck, cuddling into him. "Oh, don't worry, Kenji! You're the only one I care about romantically so there's no need to be jealous! But it's cute that you are!" she assured him and Kenji blushed heavily, but said nothing as everyone laughed at the sight.

"I'm glad to see my little brother has someone special," Kentarou laughed, then glanced at Ichijo. "What about you, Ms. Minai? Do _you_ have someone like that for yourself?" he asked her politely. Ichijo scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Who needs romance and relationships when there's news to discover?" she told him, puffing out her chest proudly. "If I'm gonna become the next world famous news reporter, I can't get involved with guys that way! I need to dedicate all my time to interviews and articles and the like!"

Sayo snickered and rolled her own eyes at her declaration. "Says the woman who constantly nags me about my own relationship." she teased. Kentarou turned to her, looking curious about her.

"Who are _you_ dating, Ms. Aisaka? If I can ask, anyway." he asked her. She paused and looked at him with uncertainty. She didn't know what to say exactly, and her mind reeled with a good answer. Thankfully- or unfortunately, Sayo wasn't sure- Mikki answered before she could open her mouth.

"You've heard of Phantom Dark, right? Well, he stopped stealing things to be with Sayo!" she told Kentarou for her best friend with a grin. Then she blinked curiously. "But I think they're in a fight or something because she hasn't seen him in a few weeks. I hope they're okay..." By now, she was mumbling to herself, looking troubled by something and Kentarou blinked, glancing between Mikki and Sayo, her focus finally stopping on Sayo.

"Really? Is that true?" he asked gently, his words kind and warm. "Well, if you two are in a fight, hopefully it's resolved soon. I'd hate to see a girl as beautiful as you look so down and out over something like that." He smiled sweetly to her, chuckling softly. "But I'm sure everything will be fine in the end. Right?"

For a few long moments, Sayo could only stare at him with wide eyes. It was almost scary how identical his feelings concerning her and Dark were with hers. But it was also nice to have someone else who shared the same feelings without having to keep everything secret. She finally smiled toward Kentarou and nodded brightly.

"Right!" she agreed happily. At that, Mikki and Ichijo grinned mischievously and together, they pounced onto Sayo and said teasingly,

"Looks like our Sayo-kins has a _cru-ush_! Ooh, la la!"

Sayo squealed and blushed in embarrassment, trying to push them off to no avail while the boys merely laughed, furthering Sayo's blush.


	21. Chapter 20

On the way back to class, Sayo couldn't help but smile fondly. She and the rest of her friends had spent their lunch talking to Kentarou and life in America. He was a kind boy who spoke his own mind without remorse and who understood more things than everyone else seemed to. Sayo had a good feeling about him and Mikki picked up on it instantly, holding back on the comments until they got seated in their Geography class. The pink-haired girl grinned and leaned over to Sayo's desk, cupping her head in her hands.

"I know that smile, missy!" she said in a sing-song voice, giggling. She pulled back and took out her Geo textbook. "Seems like Kentarou has a thing for you." She paused, peering over to her. "What do you think of that, hmm?"

Sayo blushed lightly under the stare and attempted to shrug casually. "I dunno. I mean, I still need to straighten everything out with Dark. Liking another guy so suddenly and so soon would complicate things and I don't want that." she replied softly, keeping her mind on school-related matters. If she didn't, she might end up worrying about Dark or worse, about Kentarou and how easy to talk to he was. Mikki frowned and let out a heavy sigh, but said nothing more as class began. Sometimes, it was hard to figure out what the amber-eyed girl was thinking about...

* * *

Two and a half hours later, she began parting ways as usual with Mikki and Ichijo on the way home, and was mildly surprised to see Kentarou walking her way. She blinked as he smiled toward her and waved a bit, catching up to her.

"You live this way?" he asked her and she nodded. "That's cool! So do I!" He chuckled and they continued their walk to the train station. "So, I have the feeling that there's something going on with you and... Phantom Dark, right?" Sayo gasped lightly and stared at him. He smiled a bit. "Don't worry, I'm not stalking you or anything. I've been told I'm good at reading people and when Ms. Koyama brought up that subject, I noticed you kinda froze up a bit." He gave a casual shrug, hiking his bookbag up further on his shoulder. "Just so you know, Ms. Aisaka, if there's ever anything you want to talk to me about, even if you think it's the most trivial thing in the world... You can come talk to me and I'll listen. Kay?"

"... yo..." she said very softly. Kentarou blinked and leaned closer to her.

"What'd you say?"

Sayo raised her head and looked at him with a soft smile. "Just call me Sayo..." she repeated quietly. "No need for formalities when we already seem to know each other very well. Right?"

Kentarou blinked for a moment then laughed and nodded. "Right. Sayo, it is then. And you can call me Ken. That can be the equivalent of adding that casual honorific to my name for _you_, I guess." he told her with another nod. She laughed and they talked non-stop all the way to the train and even then, they continued talking until Kentarou had to get off at his stop. But before he got off, he added his number to Sayo's cell phone, reminding her,

"Anything you need, I can give you, Sayo. No matter what."

* * *

Sayo opened her front door, being greeted by Ai, who mewled happily and rubbed her white fur against her leg. Sayo giggled and picked the kitten up, burying her cheek into the soft fur.

"You're hungry, aren't you, Ai? That's the only reason you ever rub against me. Did I forget to refill your dish this morning?" she said as she let the kitten back down and went into the kitchen to check the cat bowls. And indeed, they were empty, which made Sayo giggle more. She filled them back up with food and water, adding a bit of milk as a treat, and went upstairs to her room to start on her homework. But twenty minutes passed and she hadn't written a thing for her Geography class. With a heavy sigh, Sayo slid off her bed and put her books away, realizing that she wasn't going to be able to concentrate enough to do homework.

'Maybe a shower will help me focus.' she thought with a nod. She went into the bathroom and happened to glance into the mirror over the sink, and her eyes caught the glint of the gold on her necklace. A hand went to it and she felt the warm chain against her skin. She thought back to Dark and the confused feelings returned to her. Only... they weren't that confused any longer. She knew she loved Dark. She knew he wasn't well. If she cared about Dark as much as she thought, then she had no reason to not be at his side, making him feel better even a bit compared to how he normally felt. Keeping away from him like she was doing _now_, she was only procrastinating what would happen eventually. And that was forgiving Dark and continuing on with life.

Just then, she heard the phone ringing downstairs and she snapped out of her daze to dash to it. She reached it on the last ring, sounding out of breath as she answered.

"Hello?"

"_Ms. Aisaka, is that you? Are you alright?_" Daisuke asked on the other side, sounding a bit surprised. Sayo let out a breathless laugh.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just upstairs, is all. What's up, Daisuke? You don't normally call me." she told him.

"_Oh, I see._" he said softly, then his voice sharpened as he remembered what he'd called about. "_ That's right...!_" His voice softened and he seemed really upset suddenly. "_Ms. Aisaka, I've got... some really bad news.._" Sayo's breath caught in her throat at his ominous words. and she started fearing the worst. "_ It's about Dark... H-he's gotten much worse the past few hours. You... might want to get here as fast as you can... Before... Before it's too late._"

And like that, Sayo had hung up and got dressed, still in her school uniform, headed for Daisuke's house, his last words echoing through her mind like a horrific record.

_I'm afraid Dark's dying, Ms. Aisaka..._


	22. Chapter 21

It took all of thirty-five minutes for Sayo to finally arrive at Daisuke's house, which wasn't how long she wanted to be. She wanted to teleport in front of his house, if she'd been able to. Sadly, they didn't have the correct technology to do so yet, so she was stuck catching the next train to the boy's house and running from there. She only hoped Dark hadn't died while she was still on her way. If he had, she probably would've locked herself inside her room until she was fifty years old.

When Sayo reached Daisuke's front door, he was already standing, waiting for her. They didn't even bother speaking as he let her inside and she kicked her shoes off and ran as fast as she could upstairs to Dark's bedroom. She practically beat the door down as she went in, stopping in her tracks as she saw the sight in front of her.

Everyone in Daisuke's family and even _Hiwatari_ was standing around the foot of Dark's bed, all looking either grief-stricken or trying to hold it in so the ex-Thief wouldn't worry so much. As Sayo's eyes slowly trailed to where Dark himself laid, she couldn't help but gasp sharply and run over to him, grabbing his hand tightly. He felt cold to the touch and clammy, far from the warm and soothing skin she'd held ages ago. Half of her felt tears welling in her eyes, but the other half refused to let them out, scolding herself mentally for not being strong. For Dark's sake, she knew she had to stay strong and collected, just like the Thief himself always had been during his tirade of 'phantom thief'ing.

"Dark... I'm here now..." Sayo whispered quietly, her voice shaky in her emotions. Slowly, she saw Dark's eyes open and his amethyst eyes focus on her. He smiled, if the faint twitch of the corner of his lips could be called a smile, and he held her hand as he struggled to sit up. She helped him a bit and managed to get him half sitting up with his head supported by the wall. The faint and barely visible smile still on his lips, Dark chuckled as best her could and looked at Sayo.

"Hey there, princess. It's been a while since I saw you. You alright?" he asked her, his voice nothing but a husky, scratchy version of his usual smooth and casual tone. Sayo choked up but continued to refuse to cry as she gave him her own faint smile.

"Shouldn't that be something I ask _you_ right now?" she answered him just as quietly, her words sounding muffled by her held-back tears. "What's causing this, Dark...? What's causing you to die this way...?"

Dark chuckled weakly again. "Would you believe that it's my own self that's doing it?" he questioned her, laughing more as she gave him a puzzled expression. "That's what I thought... Hiwatari... would you tell her...?"

Sayo glanced up at the blue-haired genious as he nodded silently and took a step forward, pushing his glasses up further onto the bridge of his nose as he cleared his throat and started explaining.

"Just as Dark told you about the Niwa's family curse, there's a similair one for _my_ family, the Hikari's. except our Phantom is Krad, a being much worse than Dark ever has been. Niwa's mother and grandfather used Krad's existence to form a temporary soul for Dark so he could become human to meet you. And just as it has happened in the past with my ancestors, the same thing is happening again to Dark."

Sayo blinked in confusion and frightened curiosity. "What's that?" she asked him, dreading the reply.

Satoshi's face went from grave seriousness to a look of stoic calmness. "Krad is killing Dark from the inside until there's nothing left of him. And it's too far gone now to do anything to stop it, even if we had a way." He paused to allow the information to sink into Sayo. "So whether we like it or not, Dark _will_ die at Krad's hands tonight. And there's nothing to stop it from happening."

Sayo turned her attention back to Dark, her eyes shaking from terror. Dark nodded as if to confirm what Satoshi had told her and she held a hand to her mouth to stop from crying out with protests. She knew it wouldn't work, no matter how hard she said for it to stop. She was going to lose Dark tonight and she couldn't do anything about it.

"So, do you finally understand everything, Sayo?" Dark asked her softly, reaching his hand to gently cup her cheek. She stifled a sob and made a confusing half nod- half shake of her head gesture to him.

"I-I still don't understand the curse, but I _do_ accept it a little bit..." she told him. "But that's to be expected, right? Unless I was born into the weirdness like Daisuke or Hiwatari was, I don't think I'll _ever_ fully understand or accept it all. But it's part of your territory, so who am I to give a solid yes or no about it?"

The amethyst-haired man smiled crookedly at her and nodded, then opened his mouth to say something, but instead groaned in pain and pulled his hand back from Sayo to grasp the bed tightly. Sayo whimpered and stood a bit, watching him fearfully as he gripped his chest with his left hand, leaning forward as the pain intensified. Emiko, Towa and Daisuke stepped closer to him as well, staring with fear just as Sayo was.

"Dark, please...!" Sayo suddenly cried out, putting her arms around his shoulders. "Please don't die on me! You just _can't_! Not so soon and certainly not like _this_!"

"D-doesn't... seem like Krad's... g-giving me much... of a c-choice, S-Sayo..." Dark coughed out between restricted gasps of breath, droplets of blood landing on the bedsheets. He let out a louder groan of pain until it filled the whole room with the control the fallen angel had over the Thief. Falling back against the bed, Dark struggled to gain control over his body, his limbs twitching like he'd just gotten electrocuted with a taser. Sayo watched, her eyes wide and aching to fill with tears, as he seemed to calm down for the moment. She reached a hand to his cheek gently, stroking his skin with her thumb as she gazed down at him with desperation.

"Dark... I love you... So you can't leave me like this, not when I've finally opened my heart and let other people close to me..." she told him quietly, her voice cracking. She wanted him to tell her that he loved her as well, but it seemed that the pain he was going through was too much for him to handle and as his grip on her hand loosened, she saw him almost dim. She gasped in confusion and stood up properly, leaning over him as his body continued to shine with an eerie black light. He chuckled weakly and gave Sayo his widest and cockiest smile he could scrounge up with what little life he had left.

"Continue doing that... Keep letting others close to you..." he told her softly. "You'll find the right one for you someday, princess. And when you do, you'll know..." His grip loosened more and she watched tearfully, unable to turn away from the sight of him fading out of existence. "Seems you were _right_, Hiwatari... I'm just not meant... to be human..." He looked back at Sayo once more just as a crackling sound started around him. "I'm glad I met you... my beautiful Sacred Maiden... and good luck in life..."

"Dark, no!" Sayo shouted, but it was too late. Dark let out one last groan of pain before his body was engulfed into a thick, black light along with a thick light of golden yellow. The two appeared to tangle into each other for a moment before turning into separate orbs of light. The black one circled the room a few fast times, then suddenly went straight for Sayo, who cried out in fright and tried to jump out of the way. But she was too slow and it smashed right into her necklace, the light fusing into the black feather and glowing for a second. Then the light faded and just as everyone tried to calm down from the sudden sight, the golden orb did the exact same thing, and Sayo ended up tripping over the chair beside the bed and falling to the floor.

"Sayo, are you alright?" Emiko exclaimed, rushing to the girl to help her up. Sayo held a hand to her head and groaned softly, but seemed fine otherwise. Everyone stared at each other, trying to figure out what had just happened.

"They sealed themselves into Ms. Aisaka's necklace, it seems." Satoshi observed, walking calmly to the group and gesturing to the jewelery that seemed to be shinier than before. Sayo gaped and lifted the necklace by the feather decoration, staring at it widely.

"W-what? You mean that Dark and that Krad person are inside my necklace?" she questioned with shock. Her gaze trailed to the now empty bed then back to her necklace. "Dark... H-he's really gone for good, isn't he...?" she whispered, the tears breaking free into her eyes. She buried her face into her hands and cried quietly. "H-he's gone forever and I'll never see him again!"

"That's not true... Dark's not gone forever..." Emiko said gently and when Sayo glanced up quickly, she saw that everyone- except Satoshi- was silently crying over Dark's vanishing act. Emiko smiled softly to Sayo, helping her to her feet. "Dark won't be gone if you always remember him, Sayo... Just keep him in your memories and in here," she pointed to Sayo's heart, "and he'll always be with you. And don't forget what he told you, either. Keep letting people close to you. Seeing you happy was all he ever wanted for you. Keep Dark alive by doing that, okay?"

Sayo stared in awe at Emiko, looking all around her at the other Niwas; at Towa; at Satoshi. Even if Dark wasn't around anymore, she _knew_ she had a place in this family. She had a caring family to talk to, and friends she could count on. Being around them made her happy, so she would keep being around them. Not just for Dark, but for herself as well. She smiled then, a smile that lit her face up that showed she knew what to do from now on.

"You're right, Mrs. Ni-" she stopped and shook her head fondly. "I mean, Emiko. This isn't gonna be the last time you'll see me, so you've been warned!" She giggled and playfully winked at her, receiving a giggle in return. Satoshi even gave his own little smile.

"Mrs. Niwa, I think you should seal the necklace before anything happens again." he said in his usual stoic tone. "Just use the spell I gave you earlier and it should work just like the other concealment spells on the other things Dark had stolen." He turned to Sayo, holding his hand out politely. "Ms. Aisaka, we'll need that necklace in order to seal it correctly."

Sayo nodded, reaching behind her to unfasten the clasp then carefully placed it into Satoshi's hand, who nodded as well and began walking out of the room. Trying to figure out what to do from there, Sayo suddenly had an idea and pulled out her cell phone. She scrolled through her numbers until she found the right one and dialed it.

A few rings later, someone picked up.

"_Kentarou Anderson speaking, what's up?_"

Sayo smiled into the receiver. "Ah, hey, Kentarou. Would you mind... meeting me at the largest tree near the school? There's something I want to tell you."


	23. Chapter 22

After she said goodbye to the Niwas and gave them hugs along with a promise to visit often, Sayo ran quickly to the high school, pulling her jacket collar closer to her chin, shivering a bit from the nipping cold. But she got there just in time to see Kentarou stretch a bit. Gasping for breath, she slowed down and caught her breath, smiling a bit despite the heartache going through her.

She got closer to him, pausing to take in how the moonlight made his red hair seem like actual fire and his eyes shined brightly. He seemed so casual, so laid-back and peaceful, she suddenly couldn't seem to do what she'd wanted to. But Kentarou had caught her eye before she had a chance to turn back and go home and she took a deep breath, taking the last few steps toward the boy. He stood up and gave her a crooked smile, waving a little.

"Hey." he greeted her cheerfully, then blinked when he saw the pain in her red eyes. "Hey, you alright, Sayo? You don't look happy. Did something happen?" he asked her, concern in his quiet voice as he went to her and laid his hands on her shoulders. She kept silent, only letting the totally erratic beating of her heart allow her to know that she was still breathing as she shook her head jerkily. Kentarou leaned down so that he was looking up into her eyes. "You aren't acting like nothing happened. Is that what you wanted to tell me?"

Sayo pulled away from him, pasting a bright and sheepish smile to her face as she waved her hands at him. "No, it's actually really nothing. I'm sorry, Kentarou; I didn't mean to make you come all this way for nothing. Sorry about this." she told him and began to turn around to walk home, but before she could take two steps forward, Kentarou grabbed her hand gently and stopped her. She gasped lightly and turned her head to see him staring at her firmly, his blue eyes confused and worried.

"Don't you remember what I said?" he asked her quietly, releasing her hand slowly. "Anything you wanted to say to me, even if you thought it was the most trivial thing in the world... I'd gladly listen to you. And by the looks of those puffy eyes, something tells me you're holding back on that promise." He gestured to a bench near a few yards away. "C'mon. Why don't we sit and you can tell me whatever's on your mind, okay?"

Sayo still couldn't say anything, so she merely nodded a bit and followed him, hiking her jacket collar around her chin more. He sat and rested his elbows on his knees, watching as she sat slowly and stared ahead of her. He smiled gently and nudged her playfully with his knee.

"So, what's up, my dear Ms. Aisaka?" he asked, trying to get a smile from her. It worked, but only for a split second before she bit her bottom lip nervously and suddenly stood, shaking her head.

"No, it's stupid... Besides, you'd never believe me if I told you." she said finally, sounding so sure of herself now. She _did_ want to tell Kentarou everything, but if he laughed at her or worse, thought she was being a child, she'd never be able to live with herself. Subjecting herself to humiliation in front of a guy she'd just met and felt an odd connection to was something she didn't want to do at the moment.

"Well, there's no way of telling if I'll believe you unless you actually _tell_ me, y'know?" Kentarou suggested, his tone still gentle and airy. He leaned back against the bench and his smile grew warmer. "Why don't you try me, hmm? Maybe you'll discover more about the both of us than you thought. You never know until you take the plunge. Right?"

_And if I _do_ take the plunge and end up going into deeper waters than I expected?_ she thought heavily, sighing quietly. She nodded and sat down again, keeping her eyes on her hands on her lap as she fiddled them together. "Okay... But if you laugh once, I'm walking away and declaring you a jerk forever." she told him, half joking with a small smile to him. Kentarou grinned back and was obviously holding back a laugh at that.

"Don't worry. I'm not as emotionally fragile as I look. Go ahead." he told her. She nodded and took a deep breath and closed her eyes, starting from the very beginning from her discovery of her adoptive parents to what she went through with Dark and finished with his death. As she spoke, Kentarou kept his eyes on her, not once looking away or saying a single word. He seemed to be absorbing her story and when she finished, he gave a small nod, closing his eyes. Sayo looked at him nervously, her fingers red with both the cold and with her fidgeting. "You don't believe me, do you?" she asked him blankly.

"I never said that," he replied quietly, "But it certainly _is_ a very interesting story, indeed. I mean, I definitely understand how you could think your parents lied to you, and then add in the whole Phantom Thief thing, and you have some pretty epic writing material." Sayo flinched and instinctively pulled back to stand, but he smiled at her, which made her stay sitting and listen to him some more. "But you've gotta be telling the truth, 'cuz who would make up that kind of stuff, right?" Then his expression suddenly turned serious as he gazed down to the white-dusted ground. "But your heart's still closed a bit, Sayo. You haven't fully opened it. You only opened it up to Phantom Dark, and now that he's gone, you're going to keep your distance from people, thinking that you're trying to get over the pain of losing him. But in reality, you're closing yourself off again."

Sayo's breath caught in her throat and she finally stood quickly, her hands curling at her sides. "That's not true! It's because of Dark that my heart's opened! I'm letting people in, Kentarou; what would _you_ know about what I've been through? You're such a _jerk_!"

Kentarou's face fell into mock sadness as he stood up as well, looking at her. "Hey, I didn't laugh, did I? There was no reason to call me that." he playfully scolded her, "But... you say I don't know what it's like to think your parents lied to you? I do, Sayo." He smiled sadly and chuckled, shaking his head. "Believe it or not, until I was almost fifteen, I never knew I had a younger brother. My mom and dad never spoke about Kenji around me not because they were deceiving me, but because they didn't want me to know until I was the right age. Until they knew I could handle the truth properly."

Sato stared at Kentarou in shock. So he really _had_ gone through the same thing she had... "But how could you not think they'd keep lying about it or about other things afterwards? How could you keep trusting them?" she asked him quietly. Kentarou laughed lightly and looked back at her, grinning that carefree smile of his that she was already beginning to adore.

"Like I said, they hadn't kept the truth from me because they didn't want me to know. They just wanted to protect me. I mean, _yeah_, I remember hating them for a little while, but I realized that they knew I was mature enough to handle knowing I had a brother in Japan. And why would they lie about anything else when I could handle _that_?" He stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets, obviously getting cold now himself from the snow. "And I think that's the same with _your_ parents, Sayo. It doesn't matter if you were really mature for your age; there's only so much you can handle at eight years old and I think finding out that you were adopted was the limit to what you could take. They were protecting you, nothing more. But that doesn't mean that they didn't love you. They _did_, which is why they adopted you in the first place."

He glanced over to her, his expression almost stern in the moonlight. "It's understandable to keep away from people in fear of getting hurt by them, but ten years is far too long. You won't get to experience life to its fullest if you keep them away. You have to open up to them; let them in; let yourself get hurt a bit. That's the way life goes and you have to deal with it."

"I _told_ you- I _have_ opened my heart, Kentarou. Dark showed me how-" Sayo started but he cut her off firmly.

"No, Phantom Dark only nudged it a bit. The rest is up to you. Do you want to go through life, not taking risks and missing out on things that might've changed your whole view on everything.? Or do you want to actually _live_ and have fun with your friends?" he told her and at Sayo's stubborn face, he chuckled lightly. " Okay, try it this way... Say you're skating with important people in your life and someone close to you started skating with you. By accident, they made you fall to the ice and you banged yourself up badly. Would you avoid getting hurt again and keep to yourself while you skate, or would you just go with the flow and skate with your friends?"

Sayo huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "You make the weirdest examples, you know that?" she said flatly, trying to avoid the answer. She knew what he was getting at, and knew he was right. She'd been running from getting hurt all her life and if she was going to be honest with herself, it was getting to be tiring. She _had_ to take the plunge; take the risk that she'd recover from getting hurt.

Confused and her head in a spin, she stepped closer to Kentarou, her hands clutched at her chest, feeling her heart beat rapidly at how close they were standing together. "How, though? I don't know how to do it right without making myself push people away." she told him quietly. He smiled cheerfully and reached over to brush a stray snowflake from her bangs, his fingers hovering there.

"Take a chance with us, then. That's a good start." he told her and laughed in amusement at her blushing-red face. "What, you don't like the idea, then? I thought it'd be a good one!"

"T-that's not it! I just met you! That's not how relationships work!" she stammered in embarrassment, trying to look and sound annoyed. Kentarou laughed more. "W-why are you laughing? Are you making fun of me? You're a jerk!"

He waved a hand to her, trying to calm his laughter enough to speak. "N-no, nothing like that, Sayo!" he assured her. "You're just so cute when you act all flustered and everything! Makes me shocked that you don't have a baseball bat to smack the guys away!" That only furthered Sayo's blush and Kentarou smiled warmly, closing the small gap left between them. He lowered his head to hers, his fingertips brushing against her chin gently. "So, what do you say, hmm? I can help you open your heart more, right where Phantom Dark left off, right?" His lips got closer to Sayo's and right before they touched, she pulled her head back and grinned a bit, winking playfully.

"Sure you can, but only after a friendly date tomorrow after school!" she told him, giggling. Kentarou blinked, taken aback by her sudden change in attitude, but grinned and stepped back, nodding.

"You got it, Sayo." he agreed and they both laughed together. "Here, I'll walk you back to your place." He checked his watch. "It's nearly ten at night; it'd be dangerous for you to walk by yourself, anyway."

Sayo nodded and they began walking to her house. "Thank you, Kentarou. For listening, I mean." she told him, her tone shy as she ducked her head into her collar with a faint grin. He shook his head and stretched, letting his left arm go around her shoulders. She didn't pull away, though, and instead rested her head against his shoulder, feeling warmer this way than ever before.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I know how it feels to have weird issues, that's all. That's why I understand you better than anyone else." He looked up to the night sky with his casual grin. "Seems like Fate made us meet for a pretty damn good reason."

Sayo blushed a bit at his implication, but closed her eyes, enjoying his warmth as she nodded slightly, her hand going to her neck where her feather necklace had rested, but she could still feel the cool metal in her mind, a reminder of the Thief who'd opened her heart. "Yeah... Fate..."


	24. Epilogue Three Years Later

**Three Years Later**

"Alright, class, that'll be it for today. But don't forget about next week's seminar at the university center, okay? If you're interested in listening to old geezers droning on and on about the mentalities of people of different ages, that is." the teacher reminded her high school class of the newest addition to the courses; Psychology. Some students laughed at her joke while the rest let out a collective, "Yes, Ms." and gathered their things together just as the final bell rang. The young woman sighed slightly, glad to have the long, dragging day to finally be over and already planning her lessons for the next day.

She closed her briefcase carefully and pushed her chair in, tucking her long black hair behind an ear as she looked up at the sound of a soft knocking on her classroom door. A smile played across her lips as she giggled quietly and watched Kentarou walk inside and over to her. He grinned and placed a chaste kiss to her temple, squeezing her affectionately.

"Hey, class over, I take it." he greeted her, watching the last few students exit the room. Sayo nodded and picked up her briefcase off the tiny desk. Their hands entwined together and he tucked a hand into his dress pants pocket, leaving the room with her. "I was thinking we could go to a movie tonight. We both have the morning off tomorrow, too, so we can sleep in as well. Good idea?"

Sayo nodded in agreement, smiling more up at Kentarou. "Yeah, it does. Anyway, how was your mock case this morning? Did you win or what?" she asked him, referring to the pretend trial he'd been studying his lawyer skills with. Kentarou laughed pleasantly and nodded, his grip on her hand tightening a bit.

"'Course I did! What else do you expect from the next best lawyer in Japan, hmm? I found the most compelling evidence against Kaira and when I presented it, everyone had no choice but bow down to my excellent hawk-eye!" he said, puffing his chest proudly. Sayo laughed and playfully hit his chest down, rolling her eyes.

"You're such a lier, Ken. But I'm glad you did well today." she told him and he laughed modestly, rubbing the back of his head a bit.

"Okay, okay, you got me there." he replied cheerfully, then glanced around and chuckled. "Looks like you've got company, Sayo dear." He pointed toward a boy in the distance with shaggy brown hair, waving one hand excitedly and holding a camera with the other. Sayo laughed and waved back to Takeshi. The teen finally caught up to them and grinned widely to her.

"Ichijo's done it, Sayo!" Takeshi exclaimed, confusing the woman for a second. But the camera gave her a clue and she laughed in surprise. "She's finally figured out how to take all sorts of pictures and she's become the new school Photography teacher at Azumano High! Isn't that awesome?"

"Yeah, I'll say it's awesome. I never thought I'd see the day where Ichijo learned how to focus on still life." she agreed with a nod. Takeshi laughed and after a few minutes of catching up, began to run back to wherever he was headed to. "Oh, if you see Daisuke on the way, tell him I'll give him a call about dinner at his house tonight!" she reminded the boy. He nodded and ran off then, leaving Sayo alone with Kentarou again. They walked off the premises of Azumano High and toward the train station for home.

"Kenji and Mikki finally figured out the theme they want for the wedding." Kentarou said, as if remembering about it. Sayo blinked.

"Oh? And what did they decide on?" The image of something like all Phantom Dark colors flashed in her mind and she couldn't help but grin crookedly at it. Somehow, it still seemed like something her best friend would have.

"Get _this_," Kentarou said, waving them for the reveal. He swiped his arms out in a playful and dramatic gesture as he said, "Gothic Lolita scheme." He lowered his arms and laughed, glancing at Sayo, who was smiling and sweat dropping a bit at the theme. "I know, right? But then again, that's our Mikki Koyama for us, hmm? Kenji's probably gonna buy some sort of Victorian-style type of tux for it. All the frills are sure gonna make him look gay. But in a good way, of course. Nothing but the best frills for my little brother!"

"Yeah, and I can definitely see Mikki getting herself a dress like Towa's!" Sayo added with a hilarious mental picture of her pink-haired art class intern twirling around in an outfit like Tiwa's but longer and with more lace. Oddly enough, it fit well.

Kentarou pulled Sayo closer to him, nuzzling his nose into her hair happily. "Well, what kind of dress will _you_ buy, hmm? Whatever it is, it shouldn't one up Mikki's." he asked her. She blinked and thought about it. She still hadn't really thought about marriage. She was content right now with just going steady with Kentarou and teaching Psychology as a side treat in addition to getting a journalism degree. Marriage was something far from her mind, unless she was trying to help Mikki plan _hers_ with Kenji. The two had gotten engaged almost a year ago and were only now getting everything straightened out.

"Huh. Dunno. I mean, I haven't really had much time to look around for bridesmaid dresses, what with me needing to make up mid-term exams for my class and everything. But I'll find something soon, I suppose." she told him with a shrug. To her confused surprise, Kentarou laughed in amusement. "Um, I wasn't kidding. It's harder than it seems to make up exams, you know. I gotta look through all the past notes I gave out and all the tests I did up too. Then there's-"

"No, no! I'm not laughing at that." he told her with a wave of his hand. Sayo raised an eyebrow curiously, saying nothing as he stopped walking and looked down at her with that breath-taking smile she loved so much. "I'm laughing because you don't even know what I meant." he clarified for her, "I wasn't talking about a dress for _Mikki's_ wedding. I was talking about for _our_ wedding."

Sayo blinked widely, froze in shock. Her face slowly turned red in embarrassment and she stammered words that didn't even make any sense. Then she finally sighed heavily and hit her forehead with her palm, half of her frustrated that Kentarou would always be so weird, but the other half was already squealing in teen-like delight at what he meant.

"I knew you always said things oddly, Ken..." she said with a chuckle of her own as she lifted her head to look up at the man, "But I always figured I'd still get a _normal_ proposal and not some sort of cryptic message that I have to crack to understand."

Kentarou scoffed teasingly and rolled his eyes. "Normal? There's no such word in _my _world. You either get weird and odd or nothing at all." He leaned down and took her hands into his, gently kissing Sayo on the lips. "So what do you say, hmm? Will you marry me, Sayo?" he asked softly against her lips with a smile. She smiled back and reached on her tiptoes to kiss him back deeply.

"I obviously say _yes_. What else do you expect?" she told him with a grin, giggling softly. He chuckled, leaning his fore-head against hers.

"I knew you'd say yes, but not so easily. Wherever he is right now, I'm pretty damn sure Phantom Dark is proud and happy to see you this way. I did a great job of opening your heart, hmm?"

Sayo smiled gently at the mention of the Thief and nodded a bit. Her hands went up to her neck, where the feather necklace was resting once again, and couldn't help but remember the happiness and joy she'd felt the past three years, even after Dark's death. So much had happened and she didn't have just the tall Thief to thank- she also had Kentarou to thank as well. They'd both helped her learn to take risks in life and because of that, she had a wonderful life and was about to have a great future with a man she loved deeply, just as much as she had loved Dark. No... just as much as she _still_ loved Dark. But Kentarou was her future and she wouldn't change that for anything.

She always thought her fate was to be constantly careful of getting hurt, and with the help of of two men in her life along with her best friends Mikki and Ichijo, and Daisuke and his family for support, Sayo was still learning that she was going against her bleak fate. Just as Dark had done for her.

* * *

**So, there we have it, everyone! The ending of Against Fate! Dark's gone, sadly, but Sayo finally opened her heart completely to someone who loves her. :) I hope everyone's enjoyed reading this as much as I had fun writing it, and I'm awfully sad to see it end, but that's life! Things come and go, right? Anyway, for all those readers who reviewed, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and maybe I'll get around to writing another DarkXSayo story for you! :D For now, though, keep those reviews coming and I'll be happy as a clam! :D**


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